---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise appointment and employment of legislative auditor"
description: "Revise appointment and employment of legislative auditor"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 120"
citation: "Montana SB 120 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Legislature", "State Government"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["John Esp"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 46
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-07-13"
last_action: "2021-04-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6c807672-839f-4617-b840-ddfb2d5f9183"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=120&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=SB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20211"
source_hash: "4ff64faabe3c42d99299ab08dbf821650925605b1a8b40de13fe1c6a370af10d"
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 120 (2021) — Revise appointment and employment of legislative auditor

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0120_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/SB0199//SB0120_1.pdf)
2. **SB0120_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/SB0199//SB0120_X.pdf)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/billpdf/SB0120.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Concur — **80–20** (pass) · lower
- Do Concur — **87–11** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass — **41–9** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **40–10** (pass) · upper
- DO PASS — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- BE CONCURRED IN — **19–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- John Esp — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-07-13** Draft Request Received
- **2021-01-09** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2021-01-11** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2021-01-11** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2021-01-11** Draft in Legal Review
- **2021-01-12** Draft in Edit
- **2021-01-15** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2021-01-15** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2021-01-15** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2021-01-15** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2021-01-15** Executive Director Review
- **2021-01-15** Draft in Assembly
- **2021-01-18** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2021-01-18** Executive Director Final Review
- **2021-01-18** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2021-01-18** Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2021-01-18** Introduced `introduction`
- **2021-01-18** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2021-01-19** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-01-19** Referred to Committee - (S) Legislative Administration `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-01** Hearing - (S) Legislative Administration
- **2021-02-08** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed - (S) Legislative Administration `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-08** Committee Report--Bill Passed - (S) Legislative Administration `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-12** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-02-12** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2021-02-15** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-02-15** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-15** Transmitted to House
- **2021-02-17** Referred to Committee - (H) State Administration `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-17** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-03-10** Hearing - (H) State Administration
- **2021-03-11** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred - (H) State Administration
- **2021-03-17** Committee Report--Bill Concurred - (H) State Administration
- **2021-03-19** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-03-19** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2021-03-22** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-03-22** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-03-22** Returned to Senate
- **2021-03-23** Sent to Enrolling
- **2021-03-26** Returned from Enrolling
- **2021-03-26** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2021-03-30** Signed by President
- **2021-03-31** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-03-31** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-04-10** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-04-12** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6c807672-839f-4617-b840-ddfb2d5f9183`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).