---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise laws regarding chief municipal judges"
description: "Revise laws regarding chief municipal judges"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2019"
identifier: "SB 254"
citation: "Montana SB 254 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Cities and Towns (see also: Local Government)", "Courts (see also: Judges and Justices; Juries and Jurors)", "Judges and Justices (see also: Courts)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Diane Sands"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 49
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2019-01-22"
last_action: "2019-05-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/11467e1e-bd8f-48aa-994c-c361db7c30c0"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=254&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=SB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20191"
source_hash: "be1dd15590143c3a2a07e78baedf65aad10f52b2fa82cf8e4b420ca1eb60d142"
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 254 (2019) — Revise laws regarding chief municipal judges

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0254_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/SB0299//SB0254_1.pdf)
2. **SB0254_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/SB0299//SB0254_2.pdf)
3. **SB0254_x.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/SB0299//SB0254_x.pdf)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/billpdf/SB0254.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Pass — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- DO PASS — **10–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **49–1** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **48–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **97–1** (pass) · lower
- BE CONCURRED IN AS AMENDED — **20–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Diane Sands — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-22** Draft Request Received
- **2019-02-04** Draft On Hold
- **2019-02-07** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2019-02-08** Draft in Legal Review
- **2019-02-08** Draft in Edit
- **2019-02-09** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review [CMD]
- **2019-02-09** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2019-02-11** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2019-02-11** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2019-02-11** Executive Director Review
- **2019-02-11** Draft in Assembly
- **2019-02-11** Executive Director Final Review
- **2019-02-12** Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2019-02-12** Introduced `introduction`
- **2019-02-12** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2019-02-13** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-02-13** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-20** Hearing
- **2019-02-21** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-21** Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-25** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-02-25** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2019-02-26** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-02-26** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-26** Transmitted to House
- **2019-02-28** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-28** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-04-02** Hearing
- **2019-04-04** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2019-04-04** Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2019-04-04** Printed - New Version Available
- **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 Senate with Amendments
- **2019-04-11** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-04-12** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-04-12** 2nd Reading House Amendments Concurred `amendment-passage, amendment-amendment, reading-2`
- **2019-04-13** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-04-13** 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by House `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-04-13** Sent to Enrolling
- **2019-04-16** Returned from Enrolling
- **2019-04-16** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2019-04-23** Signed by President
- **2019-04-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-04-29** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-05-07** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-08** Chapter Number Assigned

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/11467e1e-bd8f-48aa-994c-c361db7c30c0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).