SB 66 Montana Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Generally revise definitions relating to the judiciary

SB 66 proposed updating Montana's legal definitions related to judicial conduct and court procedures. It revised key terms like "bias," "conflict of interest," "judicial officers" (including all judges and justices of the peace), and "open-mindedness" to clarify expectations for fairness in court. The bill did not create new laws or policies but aimed to standardize terminology used across Montana's judiciary. It directly affected all judicial officers statewide by defining how their conduct and decisions would be assessed under existing law. The bill died in committee in May 2025 without becoming law.
Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2024
Committee Review
Jan 2025
Senate Passage
Jan 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Dec 17, 2024 Last action May 23, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

LC1783.pdf SB0066_1.pdf · 1 edit
MINOR
The document has been renumbered from LC 1783 to Senate Bill 66, and the sponsor is now explicitly listed as M. Noland. The substantive text of the bill, including definitions and legislative history, remains unchanged.
TECHNICAL

The bill number was changed from LC 1783 to SB 66, and the sponsor was added as M. Noland.

Floor votes · Senate Jan 24, 2025

How they voted

2920
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 50
Jan 24, 2025
D Democratic18
18 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican32
11 Yea 20 Nay 1
62% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
21
Key actions
3
Committee
3
Jan 24, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (29-20-1)
senate
Jan 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Judiciary
upper
Jan 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Judiciary
upper
Jan 7, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary
upper
Dec 17, 2024
Introduced
(S) Introduced
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Mark Noland
Mark Noland
RRepublican
MT
6