# Montana HB 102: Revise laws related to public defenders for clarity Montana HB 102, Revise laws related to public defenders for clarity, is a 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) House bill sponsored by Jade Sooktis (Democrat); status signed, last action 2025-05-05 (Chapter Number Assigned) (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB102-2025 - As of: 2026-10-12 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Montana HB 102 - State: Montana - Session: 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) - Title: Revise laws related to public defenders for clarity - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2024-12-16 - Last action: 2025-05-05, Chapter Number Assigned - Sponsor: Jade Sooktis (Democrat) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Courts, Criminal Procedure, State Government - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 6 (237 yes, 158 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 6 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - State pays key defense fees: benefit, low. The central services division pays witness, interpreter, and transcript fees when a public defender requests them and the director authorizes them. If it does not pay directly, it reimburses the claim within 30 days. This lowers out‑of‑pocket costs in public defender cases. - Central office in Butte runs support: benefit, low. The law places the central services division in Butte. It runs eligibility checks, contracting, training, practice support, and data for the whole system. It hires staff to oversee contractor assignments and to manage training and litigation support, including co‑counsel help. It sets complaint, IT… - Fairer contracting and client protections: benefit, low. Contracts must be awarded through a competitive process that looks at lawyer qualifications, caseloads, reporting, performance, training, and cost. Contracts cannot be based only on the lowest price or a flat fee that ignores how many cases are assigned. Contract defenders may not accept money or b… - New conflict defender help statewide: benefit, low. The law creates a conflict defender division to take cases when the main offices have a conflict, lack capacity, or it serves the client’s best interest. The division head is a Montana‑licensed attorney and does not carry a client caseload. The division hires regional conflict defenders and support… - Stronger statewide leadership and standards: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2025, the director must be a Montana‑licensed attorney. The director sets statewide standards for lawyer qualifications, training, caseload limits, performance reviews, and contractor pay, and adopts rules to run the system. The director hires and evaluates division administrators… - Old rules repealed; office rent shifts: mixed, low. The law repeals older statutes that set a training coordinator and a separate contracted‑services section, replacing them with the new central programs. It also removes the rule that the state office must pay rent, utilities, and maintenance for regional offices. Local or state partners now handle… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Jade Sooktis (Democrat), House - Cosponsor: Barry Usher (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-08 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 39 | 9 | | | 2025-03-20 | Senate | Do Pass | pass | 32 | 18 | | | 2025-03-20 | Senate | Rerefer to Finance and Claims-Hertz | pass | 27 | 23 | | | 2025-03-20 | Senate | AMD-HB0102.001.002 Lenz D/PASS | fail | 23 | 26 | | | 2025-01-24 | House | Do Pass | pass | 60 | 38 | | | 2025-01-23 | House | Do Pass | pass | 56 | 44 | | ## Actions (36) - 2025-05-05: Chapter Number Assigned (House) - 2025-05-01: Signed by Governor (House) - 2025-04-22: Transmitted to Governor (House) - 2025-04-21: Signed by President (Senate) - 2025-04-18: Signed by Speaker (House) - 2025-04-10: Returned from Enrolling (House) - 2025-04-08: Sent to Enrolling (House) - 2025-04-08: 3rd Reading (Senate) - 2025-04-07: Committee Report (Senate) - 2025-04-07: Committee Executive Action (Senate) - 2025-04-04: Fiscal Note Printed (House) - 2025-04-03: Fiscal Note Signed (House) - 2025-04-02: Hearing (Senate) - 2025-04-02: Fiscal Note Received (House) - 2025-03-28: Fiscal Note Requested (Senate) - 2025-03-20: Rereferred to Committee (Senate) - 2025-03-20: 2nd Reading (Senate) - 2025-03-20: 2nd Reading Motion to Amend (Senate) - 2025-03-15: 2nd Reading Pass Consideration (Senate) - 2025-02-12: Committee Report (Senate) - 2025-02-11: Committee Executive Action (Senate) - 2025-02-03: Hearing (Senate) - 2025-01-27: Referred to Committee (Senate) - 2025-01-27: 1st Reading (Senate) - 2025-01-27: Transmitted to Senate (House) - 2025-01-24: 3rd Reading (House) - 2025-01-23: 2nd Reading (House) - 2025-01-22: 2nd Reading Pass Consideration (House) - 2025-01-20: Committee Report (House) - 2025-01-20: Committee Executive Action (House) - 2025-01-20: Committee Executive Action (House) - 2025-01-14: Hearing (House) - 2025-01-14: Hearing Canceled (House) - 2025-01-06: 1st Reading (House) - 2024-12-20: Referred to Committee (House) - 2024-12-16: Introduced (House) ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2025-04-15: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=8e4e1a02-991c-4cd5-a718-ace8b126460d) - Introduced, 2024-12-16: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=fa136779-1a20-4064-8f43-8e364228e278) ## Related bills - SB 437: Revise definition of sex in Montana law (signed) - HB 831: Increase elderly homeowner and renter income tax credit (vetoed) - HB 628: Revise early literacy targeted intervention laws (vetoed) - SB 410: Provide for Montana genomic security act (vetoed) - SB 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program (vetoed) - SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer (vetoed) ## Sources - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=8e4e1a02-991c-4cd5-a718-ace8b126460d) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=fa136779-1a20-4064-8f43-8e364228e278) ## Related - [SB 437: Revise definition of sex in Montana law](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB437-2025) - [HB 831: Increase elderly homeowner and renter income tax credit](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB831-2025) - [HB 628: Revise early literacy targeted intervention laws](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB628-2025) - [SB 410: Provide for Montana genomic security act](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB410-2025) - [SB 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB424-2025) - [SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB422-2025) - [Montana bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/montana/bills) - [Montana state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/montana) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB102-2025 (as of 2026-10-12).