Generally revise civil liability laws relating to statutes of limitations for certain actions
SB 143 revises Montana's civil liability laws by shortening the statutes of limitations for certain types of legal actions. The bill reduces the period for filing lawsuits based on a written contract, covenant, obligation, or liability from 8 years to 6 years. It also shortens the timeframe for actions seeking damages related to work on improvements to real property or land surveying, changing it from 10 years to 6 years after completion of the work. These changes directly affect individuals and entities involved in such contracts or property development, establishing new deadlines for bringing legal claims. The revised time limits will apply to actions filed on or after October 1, 2025.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
Apr 2025
Introduced Jan 14, 2025
Signed Apr 18, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons
What changed between versions
SB0143_1(4).pdf
→
SB0143_X.pdf
·
5 edits
MODERATE
This bill updates the statute of limitations for legal actions in Montana, extending the time limit for written contracts from 8 to 16 years and for construction/land surveying damages from 10 to 16 years. It also clarifies the applicability date for these new timelines to actions filed on or after October 1, 2025.
Scope change
The scope of the bill was expanded to include 'covenant' and 'liability' alongside 'contract' and 'obligation' for written instruments, and it explicitly added 'land surveying' to the construction damages section.
TIMELINE
Extended the statute of limitations for written contracts from 8 years to 16 years.
Extended the statute of limitations for construction and land surveying damages from 10 years to 16 years.
SCOPE
Added 'covenant' and 'liability' to the list of written instruments subject to the 16-year limitation period.
Explicitly included 'land surveying' in the section covering construction-related damages.
TECHNICAL
Corrected formatting and spacing errors in the bill text.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 7, 2025 · House Mar 28, 2025
How they voted
47–2
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 50
Feb 7, 2025
D
Democratic18
83% Yea
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
Apr 17, 2025
Signed into law
(S) Signed by Governor
upper
Apr 8, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 2, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Mar 28, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (58-41-1)
house
Mar 20, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Judiciary
lower
Mar 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 10, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 7, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (47-2-1)
senate
Feb 4, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Local Government
upper
Feb 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Local Government
upper
Jan 16, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Local Government
upper
Jan 14, 2025
Introduced
(S) Introduced
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Greg Hertz
RRepublican
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