---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise laws related to misdemeanor expungement"
description: "Revise laws related to misdemeanor expungement"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 543"
citation: "Montana HB 543 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts (see also: Judges and Justices; Juries and Jurors)", "Criminal Procedure (see also: Law Enforcement)", "Rule Making"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Zach Brown"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 54
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2018-11-28"
last_action: "2019-05-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/08e91031-f3bd-41bb-8357-fa78216fdac8"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=543&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=HB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20191"
source_hash: "889ea6441aa4fd7c1b74866263f63a23971170a1d31f4f8726ccc108f763faf7"
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 543 (2019) — Revise laws related to misdemeanor expungement

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0543_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/HB0599//HB0543_1.pdf)
2. **HB0543_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/HB0599//HB0543_2.pdf)
3. **HB0543_x.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/HB0599//HB0543_x.pdf)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/billpdf/HB0543.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Concur — **35–14** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **37–12** (pass) · upper
- DO PASS AS AMENDED — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- BE CONCURRED IN — **6–4** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **91–9** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass — **91–8** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Zach Brown — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-11-28** Draft Request Received
- **2019-01-05** Draft On Hold
- **2019-01-31** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2019-02-01** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2019-02-05** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2019-02-12** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2019-02-13** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2019-02-14** Draft in Legal Review
- **2019-02-14** Draft Back for Redo
- **2019-02-14** Draft in Legal Review
- **2019-02-15** Draft in Edit
- **2019-02-15** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review [SMH]
- **2019-02-15** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2019-02-15** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2019-02-15** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2019-02-15** Executive Director Review
- **2019-02-16** Draft in Assembly
- **2019-02-16** Executive Director Final Review
- **2019-02-16** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2019-02-18** Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2019-02-19** Fiscal Note Requested
- **2019-02-19** Introduced `introduction`
- **2019-02-19** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-19** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-02-19** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2019-02-23** Fiscal Note Received
- **2019-02-25** Fiscal Note Printed
- **2019-02-25** Hearing
- **2019-02-27** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-27** Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-27** Printed - New Version Available
- **2019-02-28** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-02-28** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2019-03-01** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-03-01** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-03-01** Transmitted to Senate
- **2019-03-07** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-03-09** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-27** Hearing
- **2019-04-02** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2019-04-02** Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2019-04-05** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-04-05** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2019-04-08** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-04-08** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-04-08** Returned to House
- **2019-04-08** Sent to Enrolling
- **2019-04-10** Returned from Enrolling
- **2019-04-11** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2019-04-16** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-04-30** Signed by President
- **2019-05-01** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-05-08** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-09** Chapter Number Assigned

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/08e91031-f3bd-41bb-8357-fa78216fdac8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).