Eliminate attorney requirements on quasi-judicial boards
HB 603 removes the statewide requirement that at least one member of a quasi-judicial board must be an attorney licensed to practice law in Montana. This bill amends various sections of the Montana Code Annotated to eliminate this specific qualification for state boards that perform administrative decision-making functions. It also explicitly removes the attorney requirement for the Board of Directors of the State Compensation Insurance Fund and the Hard-Rock Mining Impact Board. The change allows for a broader range of professional backgrounds among the appointed members of these boards.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Feb 20, 2025
Signed May 5, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons
What changed between versions
HB0603_X(3).pdf
→
HB0603_X(4).pdf
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill removes the requirement that at least one member of a quasi-judicial board must be an attorney licensed in Montana. This change allows non-attorneys to serve on these boards, potentially broadening the pool of qualified members and reducing barriers to entry for board positions.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded to include additional sections (2-15-1019, 2-15-1822, 2-15-2305, 2-15-2502, 2-15-3110, 2-15-3402, and 2-15-3406) that were previously not explicitly listed in the act title.
ELIGIBILITY
Removed the requirement that at least one member of a quasi-judicial board must be an attorney licensed to practice law in Montana.
TECHNICAL
Added section numbers to the list of amended statutes in the act title for clarity and completeness.
Removed the word 'AN' before 'IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE' in the act title for grammatical consistency.
Floor votes · Senate Apr 15, 2025 · House Mar 6, 2025
How they voted
36–14
Passed
Total votes 50
Apr 15, 2025
D
Democratic18
77% Nay
R
Republican32
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
38
Key actions
9
Committee
6
May 1, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Apr 24, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Apr 23, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 15, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (36-14)
senate
Mar 28, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Judiciary
upper
Mar 28, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Judiciary
upper
Mar 14, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary
upper
Mar 6, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (68-31-1)
house
Feb 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 20, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 20, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Greg Overstreet
RRepublican
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