---
type: "Bill"
title: "Generally revise laws related to district court judge numbers"
description: "Generally revise laws related to district court judge numbers"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 44"
citation: "Montana HB 44 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts (see also: Judges and Justices; Juries and Jurors)", "Judges and Justices (see also: Courts)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jeff Essmann"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 72
vote_count: 12
first_action: "2016-07-06"
last_action: "2017-05-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/95fea314-fd35-4ff9-a395-09bba98af9c5"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0203W$BSRV.ActionQuery?P_SESS=20171&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=&P_BILL_NO=&P_BILL_DFT_NO=LC0187&P_CHPT_NO=&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SBJT_SBJ_CD=&P_ENTY_ID_SEQ="
source_hash: "0c0b420952f4820d20ad5929f925f40d0e71c067c8a6021e07ecd0dcc1362532"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-mt"]
---

# Montana HB 44 (2017) — Generally revise laws related to district court judge numbers

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2017/BillPdf/HB0044.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Pass — **97–2** (pass) · legislature
- Do Concur as Amended — **49–1** (pass) · legislature
- DO PASS — **22–0** (pass) · legislature
- BE CONCURRED IN — **11–0** (pass) · legislature
- Do Concur — **97–3** (pass) · legislature
- Do Concur — **44–6** (pass) · legislature
- AMD-1 Osmundson D/PASS — **50–0** (pass) · legislature
- DO PASS AS AMENDED — **19–0** (pass) · legislature
- Do Concur — **48–1** (pass) · legislature
- Do Concur — **97–2** (pass) · legislature
- Do Pass — **99–1** (pass) · legislature
- BE CONCURRED IN AS AMENDED — **18–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Jeff Essmann — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-07-06** Draft Request Received
- **2016-11-10** Fiscal Note Probable
- **2016-11-10** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2016-11-10** Fiscal Note Probable
- **2016-11-10** Draft in Legal Review
- **2016-11-14** Draft in Edit
- **2016-11-21** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review [CMD]
- **2016-11-21** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2016-11-29** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2016-11-29** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2016-11-29** Executive Director Review
- **2016-11-29** Draft in Assembly
- **2016-11-29** Pre-Introduction Letter Sent
- **2016-11-29** Pre-Introduction Letter Sent
- **2016-12-08** Introduced `introduction`
- **2016-12-08** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2016-12-08** Fiscal Note Requested
- **2016-12-08** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2016-12-29** Fiscal Note Received
- **2017-01-02** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2017-01-03** Fiscal Note Signed
- **2017-01-05** Fiscal Note Printed
- **2017-01-27** Hearing
- **2017-02-14** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2017-02-14** Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2017-02-14** Revised Fiscal Note Requested
- **2017-02-14** Printed - New Version Available
- **2017-02-16** Revised Fiscal Note Received
- **2017-02-16** Revised Fiscal Note Signed
- **2017-02-16** Revised Fiscal Note Printed
- **2017-02-16** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2017-02-16** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2017-02-16** Rereferred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-20** Hearing
- **2017-02-20** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2017-02-20** Printed - New Version Available
- **2017-02-21** Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2017-02-22** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2017-02-22** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-02-22** Transmitted to Senate
- **2017-02-23** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2017-02-23** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-14** Hearing
- **2017-03-16** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2017-03-16** Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2017-03-21** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2017-03-22** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2017-03-22** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2017-03-22** Taken from 2nd Reading; Rereferred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-30** Hearing
- **2017-04-04** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2017-04-04** Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2017-04-04** Printed - New Version Available
- **2017-04-06** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2017-04-06** 2nd Reading Motion to Amend Carried
- **2017-04-06** 2nd Reading Concurred as Amended `reading-2`
- **2017-04-06** Printed - New Version Available
- **2017-04-07** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2017-04-07** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-04-07** Returned to House with Amendments
- **2017-04-11** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2017-04-11** 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred `amendment-passage, reading-2, amendment-amendment`
- **2017-04-12** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2017-04-12** 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-04-13** Sent to Enrolling
- **2017-04-18** Returned from Enrolling
- **2017-04-18** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2017-04-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-04-29** Signed by President
- **2017-05-01** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-05-08** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2017-05-08** Chapter Number Assigned

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/95fea314-fd35-4ff9-a395-09bba98af9c5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).