HB 651 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Allow for temporary door locks during emergency situations

HB 651 allows public buildings to use temporary door locking devices during shelter-in-place or emergency lockdown situations. These devices can secure doors, including fire exits, as a limited exception to the fire code. The bill defines these devices with specific safety requirements, such as being removable from the egress side without a key, not permanently mounted, and integrated into building safety plans and training. Their use must also be approved by the local fire department, law enforcement, or code official.
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 21, 2025 Signed May 5, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0651_X(1).pdf HB0651_X(2).pdf · 2 edits
MINOR
HB 651 was amended to clarify and expand the rules for temporary door locking devices used during emergency lockdowns. The changes remove unnecessary blank lines and slightly adjust formatting while maintaining the core policy that these devices can be used to secure doors during shelter-in-place situations when approved by fire or law enforcement officials.
Scope change
No substantive change to the bill's scope or applicability; changes are primarily formatting and minor text adjustments.
TECHNICAL

Removed extra blank lines and adjusted spacing in the bill text for formatting consistency.

Minor text adjustments to section headers and definitions that do not alter the legal meaning or requirements.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 15, 2025 · House Mar 7, 2025

How they voted

500
Passed
Total votes 50
Apr 15, 2025
D Democratic18
18 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican32
32 Yea
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 (50-0)
senate
Mar 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) State Administration
upper
Mar 26, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) State Administration
upper
Mar 17, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) State Administration
upper
Mar 7, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (96-3-1)
house
Feb 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) State Administration
lower
Feb 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) State Administration
lower
Feb 22, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) State Administration
lower
Feb 21, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Amy Regier
Amy Regier
RRepublican
MT
6