---
type: "Bill"
title: "Remove requirement for court to pay travel costs for prosecution witnesses"
description: "Remove requirement for court to pay travel costs for prosecution witnesses"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2019"
identifier: "SB 26"
citation: "Montana SB 26 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Counties (see also: Local Government)", "Courts (see also: Judges and Justices; Juries and Jurors)", "Criminal Procedure (see also: Law Enforcement)", "State Finance (see also: Appropriations; Taxation Subjects)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Steve Fitzpatrick"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 54
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2018-07-30"
last_action: "2019-05-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3a3b14b6-5a43-47db-871e-b3bdea2578fb"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=26&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=SB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20191"
source_hash: "040e2dbf9d38d4575838da9d37df29a91efac5834a1dfd8661c0ef844f23c7ca"
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 26 (2019) — Remove requirement for court to pay travel costs for prosecution witnesses

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0026_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/SB0099//SB0026_1.pdf)
2. **SB0026_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/SB0099//SB0026_2.pdf)
3. **SB0026_3.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/SB0099//SB0026_3.pdf)
4. **SB0026_4.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/SB0099//SB0026_4.pdf)
5. **SB0026_x.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/SB0099//SB0026_x.pdf)
6. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/billpdf/SB0026.pdf)

## Votes

- BE CONCURRED IN AS AMENDED — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass — **34–12** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur As Amended — **98–2** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass — **46–4** (pass) · upper
- DO PASS AS AMENDED — **8–1** (pass) · upper
- AMD-002 Buttrey D/CONCUR — **77–23** (pass) · lower
- Do Concur — **93–4** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Steve Fitzpatrick — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-07-30** Draft Request Received
- **2018-11-01** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2018-11-01** Draft in Legal Review
- **2018-11-01** Draft in Edit
- **2018-11-05** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review [SMH]
- **2018-11-05** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review [SMH]
- **2018-11-05** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2018-11-21** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2018-11-21** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2018-11-26** Executive Director Review
- **2018-11-26** Draft in Assembly
- **2018-11-26** Pre-Introduction Letter Sent
- **2018-12-05** Introduced `introduction`
- **2018-12-05** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2018-12-06** Fiscal Note Requested
- **2018-12-21** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-03** Fiscal Note Received
- **2019-01-07** Fiscal Note Signed
- **2019-01-07** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-01-10** Fiscal Note Printed
- **2019-01-11** Hearing
- **2019-01-16** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2019-01-16** Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2019-01-16** Printed - New Version Available
- **2019-01-18** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-01-18** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2019-01-21** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-01-21** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-01-21** Transmitted to House
- **2019-01-23** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-23** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-03-18** Hearing
- **2019-04-02** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2019-04-02** Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2019-04-02** Printed - New Version Available
- **2019-04-02** Revised Fiscal Note Requested
- **2019-04-04** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-04-04** 2nd Reading Motion to Amend Carried
- **2019-04-04** 2nd Reading Concurred as Amended `reading-2`
- **2019-04-05** Revised Fiscal Note Received
- **2019-04-05** Printed - New Version Available
- **2019-04-05** Fiscal Note Unsigned
- **2019-04-05** Revised Fiscal Note Printed
- **2019-04-08** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-04-08** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-04-08** Returned to Senate
- **2019-04-09** Sent to Enrolling
- **2019-04-09** Returned from Enrolling
- **2019-04-10** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2019-04-16** Signed by President
- **2019-04-18** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-04-26** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-04-30** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-01** Chapter Number Assigned

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3a3b14b6-5a43-47db-871e-b3bdea2578fb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).