---
type: "Bill"
title: "Revise who may serve as a judge pro tempore in justice's courts"
description: "Revise who may serve as a judge pro tempore in justice's courts"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 239"
citation: "Montana HB 239 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts (see also: Judges and Justices; Juries and Jurors)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Brandon Ler"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 45
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2022-12-03T18:43:36+00:00"
last_action: "2023-04-19T22:05:18+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7ab013e8-fbf1-4581-8542-de2105c84b64"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC2265"
source_hash: "f4ea2468a29c7facafa08e6e7c996e2b9a5b1476284e3fc755540d7f65df4566"
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 239 (2023) — Revise who may serve as a judge pro tempore in justice's courts

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0239_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=5955)
2. **HB0239_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=5956)

## Votes

- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred — **11–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Brandon Ler — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-04-19T22:05:18+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-04-19T18:31:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-13T16:45:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-12T18:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-07T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-03-28T22:21:35+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-03-28T20:12:00+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-03-20T21:53:55+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-03-20T21:28:32+00:00** (S) Returned to House
- **2023-03-17T20:00:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-17T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-03-16T19:17:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-16T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-14T19:06:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-14T15:00:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2023-03-10T16:00:26+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-02-16T16:52:18+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-02T20:34:00+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-02T17:13:15+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-02-01T22:47:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-01T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-01-31T21:10:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-01-31T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-01-20T20:17:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-20T19:13:13+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-19T15:30:00+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-01-16T21:49:21+00:00** (H) Hearing Canceled
- **2023-01-16T21:43:27+00:00** (H) Hearing Canceled
- **2023-01-16T20:18:19+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-01-16T18:25:18+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-12T22:02:27+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-12T20:58:11+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2023-01-11T17:06:06+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-01-10T18:52:11+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-09T16:36:40+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-01-09T16:36:32+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-07T16:25:44+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-01-06T20:26:27+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-01-06T17:14:19+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-06T17:14:18+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-01-06T14:38:14+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-01-05T19:50:08+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-01-04T21:38:49+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-01-04T20:14:19+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2022-12-03T18:43:36+00:00** (C) Draft Request Received `receipt`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7ab013e8-fbf1-4581-8542-de2105c84b64`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).