SB 193 Montana Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Provide that members of the attorneys' examining board are appointed by the governor

SB 193 changes the appointment authority for Montana's Attorneys' Examining Board from the current "supreme court governor" (a likely reference to the supreme court's role) to solely the governor. This procedural bill modifies Section 37-61-102, MCA, to specify that the governor appoints board members (capped at seven) without requiring court involvement. It directly affects the process for selecting the seven-member board responsible for administering bar examinations. The change streamlines the appointment mechanism without altering the board's duties or exam procedures.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Signed into Law

May 2025

Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Signed May 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB0193_2(10).pdf → SB0193_X.pdf · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill clarifies that the Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, rather than the Governor, is responsible for appointing members of the Attorneys' Examining Board. The change removes references to the Governor and updates the title and text to reflect the Chief Justice's authority over board appointments and rule-making.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from Governor-led oversight to Chief Justice-led oversight of attorney board appointments.

REQUIREMENT

Replaced references to the Governor with the Chief Justice as the appointing authority for the Attorneys' Examining Board.

ENFORCEMENT

Added certification language indicating the bill has been enrolled and signed by Senate and House officers.

TECHNICAL

Updated formatting and capitalization to align with standard legislative style and remove redundant text.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 12, 2025 · House Apr 11, 2025

How they voted

31–19

Passed

Total votes 50

Feb 12, 2025

D Democratic18

18 Nay

100% Nay

R Republican32

31 Yea 1 Nay

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 5, 2025

Signed into law

(S) Signed by Governor

upper

Apr 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Signed by Speaker

lower

Apr 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Signed by President

upper

Apr 11, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (57-42-1)

house

Apr 9, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Report - (H) Judiciary

lower

Apr 9, 2025

Lower · Passed

(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Judiciary

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Committee

(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (31-19)

senate

Feb 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Report - (S) Judiciary

upper

Feb 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Judiciary

upper

Jan 22, 2025

Committee

(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary

upper

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

(S) Introduced

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors