---
type: "Bill"
title: "Generally revise laws related to the judiciary"
description: "Generally revise laws related to the judiciary"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 402"
citation: "Montana SB 402 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Judges and Justices (see also: Courts)", "Revenue", "State"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cary Smith"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 71
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2020-11-10"
last_action: "2021-05-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/27899206-e30c-4842-bb6f-1a272a102130"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=402&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=SB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20211"
source_hash: "f599bf0fc77fc05ceff906b88dc40453ed095504d39346230981af0b89f9f272"
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 402 (2021) — Generally revise laws related to the judiciary

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0402_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/SB0499//SB0402_1.pdf)
2. **SB0402_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/SB0499//SB0402_2.pdf)
3. **SB0402_3.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/SB0499//SB0402_3.pdf)
4. **SB0402_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/SB0499//SB0402_X.pdf)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/billpdf/SB0402.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Adopt — **28–22** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **29–21** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass — **30–20** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **64–35** (pass) · lower
- Do Not Concur — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **64–34** (pass) · lower
- Do Adopt — **57–43** (pass) · lower
- BE CONCURRED IN AS AMENDED — **12–7** (pass) · lower
- Do Adopt — **52–45** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass — **31–19** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Cary Smith — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-11-10** Draft Request Received
- **2020-12-16** Draft On Hold
- **2021-03-20** Draft Taken Off Hold
- **2021-03-21** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2021-03-21** Draft in Legal Review
- **2021-03-22** Draft in Edit
- **2021-03-22** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2021-03-22** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2021-03-22** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2021-03-22** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2021-03-22** Executive Director Review
- **2021-03-22** Draft Back for Redo
- **2021-03-23** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2021-03-23** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2021-03-23** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2021-03-23** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2021-03-26** Executive Director Review
- **2021-03-26** Draft in Assembly
- **2021-03-26** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2021-03-26** Executive Director Final Review
- **2021-03-26** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2021-03-29** Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2021-03-29** Introduced `introduction`
- **2021-03-29** Fiscal Note Requested
- **2021-03-29** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-03-29** Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-01** Hearing - (S) Judiciary
- **2021-04-01** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed - (S) Judiciary `committee-passage`
- **2021-04-01** Committee Report--Bill Passed - (S) Judiciary `committee-passage`
- **2021-04-06** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2021-04-06** Fiscal Note Received
- **2021-04-06** Fiscal Note Signed
- **2021-04-06** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-04-06** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2021-04-07** Fiscal Note Printed
- **2021-04-07** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-04-07** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-07** Transmitted to House
- **2021-04-09** Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-09** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-04-14** Amendments Available
- **2021-04-15** Hearing - (H) Judiciary
- **2021-04-22** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended - (H) Judiciary
- **2021-04-22** Printed - New Version Available
- **2021-04-22** Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended - (H) Judiciary
- **2021-04-23** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-04-23** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2021-04-26** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-04-26** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-26** Returned to Senate with Amendments
- **2021-04-26** 2nd Reading House Amendments Not Concurred `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-26** Free Conference Committee Appointed - (S) Free Conference
- **2021-04-27** Free Conference Committee Appointed - (S) Free Conference
- **2021-04-28** Hearing - (S) Free Conference
- **2021-04-28** Free Conference Committee Report Received - (S) Free Conference
- **2021-04-28** Free Conference Committee Report Received - (S) Free Conference
- **2021-04-29** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-04-29** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2021-04-29** 2nd Reading Free Conference Committee Report Adopted
- **2021-04-29** 2nd Reading Free Conference Committee Report Adopted
- **2021-04-29** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2021-04-29** 3rd Reading Free Conference Committee Report Adopted
- **2021-04-29** 3rd Reading Free Conference Committee Report Adopted
- **2021-04-29** Sent to Enrolling
- **2021-05-03** Returned from Enrolling
- **2021-05-03** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2021-05-04** Signed by President
- **2021-05-04** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-05-04** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-05-10** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-11** 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/27899206-e30c-4842-bb6f-1a272a102130`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).