HB 921 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Constitutional amendment prohibiting distribution or receipt of child pornography

HB 921 is a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow Montana to prohibit and punish the distribution or receipt of child pornography violating federal laws, while creating a private right for individuals to sue violators. It directly affects Montana state and local governments (who could enforce these prohibitions) and any person harmed by such violations (who could file lawsuits). Key provisions include overriding conflicting state laws to enable state enforcement of federal child pornography statutes and granting courts authority to award injunctive relief and attorney fees in successful lawsuits. The amendment requires voter approval at the 2026 general election and would not change existing federal laws, merely enabling Montana to align its enforcement with federal standards.
Bill status died 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Governor
Introduced Mar 28, 2025 Last action May 22, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0921_1(8).pdf HB0921_2.pdf · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended to broaden its scope from regulating only child pornography to also covering other obscene or nonmailable material as defined by federal law. This change allows state and local governments to outlaw and punish the possession, distribution, or receipt of a wider range of illegal content, not just child sexual abuse material. The amendment also updates the effective year from 2026 to 2025 and adjusts the bill number formatting.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded to include 'other obscene or nonmailable material' in addition to child pornography, increasing the range of prohibited conduct that can be outlawed and punished.
SCOPE

The definition of prohibited material was expanded from solely 'child pornography' to include 'child pornography or other obscene or nonmailable material, as defined by federal law'.

ENFORCEMENT

The powers granted to state and local governments were updated to explicitly include the ability to outlaw and punish the 'possession' of the newly defined prohibited materials, in addition to distribution and receipt.

TIMELINE

The year associated with the legislature and effective date was changed from 2026 to 2025.

TECHNICAL

The bill number was updated from HB 921.1 to HB0921.2, and various text formatting and capitalization inconsistencies were corrected throughout the document.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 18, 2025 · House Apr 28, 2025

How they voted

3218
Passed
Total votes 50
Apr 18, 2025
D Democratic18
18 Nay
100% Nay
R Republican32
32 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
34
Key actions
6
Committee
6
Amendments
1
Apr 28, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (56-44)
house
Apr 19, 2025
Introduced
(S) Returned to House with Amendments
upper
Apr 18, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (32-18)
senate
Apr 16, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Judiciary
upper
Apr 16, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Judiciary
upper
Apr 7, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary
upper
Apr 1, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Judiciary
lower
Apr 1, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Judiciary
lower
Mar 29, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary
lower
Mar 28, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Tom Millett
Tom Millett
RRepublican
MT
2