Eliminate a defense to the vehicle noise statute
SB 264 amends Montana law concerning motor vehicle exhaust noise. This bill eliminates a specific legal defense for motor vehicle operators cited for exceeding the 95-decibel noise limit. Previously, a driver could not be convicted if they had reasonable grounds to believe their vehicle complied with the noise standard. With this change, that defense is no longer available to those charged with a violation.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Feb 4, 2025
Signed May 8, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons
What changed between versions
SB0264_1(11).pdf
→
SB0264_X.pdf
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill text was updated from a draft version to an enrolled, final version ready for signing. The substantive content regarding the exhaust noise statute remains unchanged, but the document now includes official certification signatures and the formal 'Enrolled Bill' header.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; this is a procedural update to the document format.
TECHNICAL
The document header was updated from 'SENATE BILL NO. 264' to 'ENROLLED BILL' to indicate it has passed both legislative chambers.
Official certification blocks for the Secretary of the Senate, President of the Senate, and Speaker of the House were added.
Drafting artifacts, such as the 'Authorized Print Version' label and the line number 1[...]1 markup, were removed.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 18, 2025 · House Apr 11, 2025
How they voted
33–17
Passed
Total votes 50
Feb 18, 2025
D
Democratic18
100% Yea
R
Republican32
53% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
42
Key actions
9
Committee
6
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 (52-47-1)
house
Apr 1, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Transportation
lower
Mar 31, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Transportation
lower
Feb 19, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Transportation
lower
Feb 18, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (33-17)
senate
Feb 13, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Highways and Transportation
upper
Feb 12, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Highways and Transportation
upper
Feb 5, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Highways and Transportation
upper
Feb 4, 2025
Introduced
(S) Introduced
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Russel Tempel
RRepublican
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