SB 273 Montana Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Revise laws related to charges of assault

SB 273 would have changed Montana's assault law by giving victims (with specific exceptions for developmentally, physically, or mentally disabled individuals) the sole authority to decide whether to file assault charges. The bill amended Montana Code Annotated § 45-5-201 to state that victims - not prosecutors - determine if charges proceed for most assault cases. This would have shifted the decision-making power from law enforcement to the victim in non-exempt cases. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee, heard, tabled, and ultimately died in process on May 23, 2025, without becoming law.

Issues: ✓ Criminal Justice

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 5, 2025 Last action May 23, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

LC3054.pdf → SB0273_1.pdf · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was renumbered from LC 3054 to SB 273.1, indicating a shift from a committee or legislative council designation to a formal Senate bill number. The primary sponsor is now identified as D. Emrich, replacing a blank sponsor field. These are administrative changes that do not alter the substantive policy content of the bill.

TECHNICAL

Bill number changed from LC 3054 to SB 273.1, reflecting formal Senate filing.

Sponsor field updated from blank to D. Emrich.

Print version header updated to reflect Senate Bill 273 instead of LC 3054.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 19, 2025

Amended

(S) Tabled in Committee - (S) Judiciary

upper

Feb 7, 2025

Committee

(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary

upper

Feb 5, 2025

Introduced

(S) Introduced

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors