---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise when a primary must be held for county nonpartisan offices."
description: "Revise when a primary must be held for county nonpartisan offices."
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 178"
citation: "Montana SB 178 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Elections (see also: Ballot Issues)", "Local Government (see also: City Subjects; County Subjects)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Nels Swandal"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 44
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2016-11-30"
last_action: "2017-04-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/737db40a-bd35-46d2-8d49-04f16ced9dc1"
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=LC1243&P_CHPT_NO=&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SBJT_SBJ_CD=&P_ENTY_ID_SEQ="
source_hash: "3d6829700f78a566ccda05fbb0fa16f7eb4423e6a2ffb975a7671d257098728a"
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 SB 178 (2017) — Revise when a primary must be held for county nonpartisan offices.

## 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/SB0178.pdf)

## Votes

- DO PASS AS AMENDED — **8–0** (pass) · legislature
- BE CONCURRED IN — **20–0** (pass) · legislature
- Do Concur — **98–0** (pass) · legislature
- Do Concur — **100–0** (pass) · legislature
- Do Pass — **50–0** (pass) · legislature
- Do Pass — **49–1** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Nels Swandal — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2016-11-30** Draft Request Received
- **2017-01-23** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2017-01-24** Draft in Legal Review
- **2017-01-24** Draft in Edit
- **2017-01-24** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review [CMD]
- **2017-01-25** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2017-01-25** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2017-01-25** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2017-01-25** Executive Director Review
- **2017-01-25** Draft in Assembly
- **2017-01-25** Executive Director Final Review
- **2017-01-25** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2017-01-31** Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2017-01-31** Introduced `introduction`
- **2017-01-31** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2017-01-31** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-31** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2017-02-13** Hearing
- **2017-02-20** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2017-02-21** Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2017-02-21** Printed - New Version Available
- **2017-02-23** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2017-02-23** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2017-02-24** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2017-02-24** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-02-24** Transmitted to House
- **2017-02-25** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-25** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2017-03-15** Hearing
- **2017-03-22** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2017-03-22** Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2017-03-23** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2017-03-23** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2017-03-24** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2017-03-24** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-03-24** Returned to Senate
- **2017-03-25** Sent to Enrolling
- **2017-03-27** Returned from Enrolling
- **2017-03-27** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2017-03-29** Signed by President
- **2017-03-30** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-03-31** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-04-07** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2017-04-07** Chapter Number Assigned

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/737db40a-bd35-46d2-8d49-04f16ced9dc1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).