---
type: "Bill"
title: "Expand when auxiliary officers may carry weapons"
description: "Expand when auxiliary officers may carry weapons"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 256"
citation: "Montana HB 256 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["City Officers (see also: Local Government)", "County Officers (see also: Local Government)", "Guns and Weapons", "Law Enforcement (see also: Criminal Procedure)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Courtenay Sprunger"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 53
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2022-12-01T16:14:45+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-19T19:54:08+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/279c18d8-599d-4c9d-9f0b-0dd55a39fd09"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC1918"
source_hash: "e3b6053fa0f10c1cb3280b78b7e0b1220bca69df670842170c1e625876bb9867"
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 256 (2023) — Expand when auxiliary officers may carry weapons

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0256.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6120)
2. **HB0256.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6121)
3. **HB0256.002.004_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6122)
4. **HB0256.002.004_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6123)
5. **HB0256_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6124)
6. **HB0256_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6127)
7. **HB0256_3.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6126)
8. **HB0256_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=6125)

## Votes

- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **17–2** (pass) · lower
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate — **88–9** (pass) · lower
- (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred — **98–2** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **29–21** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **89–11** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred — **27–23** (pass) · upper
- (H) Tabled in Committee — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **87–8** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended — **7–4** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Courtenay Sprunger — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-19T19:54:08+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-18T22:28:46+00:00** (H) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-08T16:20:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-04T23:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-05-04T20:27:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-19T22:16:40+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-19T22:16:39+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-18T01:37:31+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-18T00:47:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate `passage, passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-04-17T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-14T20:00:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-14T19:00:01+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-28T21:20:01+00:00** (S) Returned to House with Amendments
- **2023-03-27T21:13:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-27T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-03-24T20:10:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-24T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-22T21:49:25+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-03-22T19:20:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-03-21T14:00:01+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-03-21T14:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-03-13T23:02:21+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-10T00:13:01+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-03-03T21:34:25+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-03-03T16:47:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-02T20:08:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-02-28T23:32:57+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-02-28T22:53:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-28T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-28T13:35:00+00:00** (H) Taken from Table in Committee
- **2023-02-24T13:21:35+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-01-24T18:54:17+00:00** (H) Tabled in Committee `amendment-deferral`
- **2023-01-20T15:00:28+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-01-17T20:20:03+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-01-17T18:34:13+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-16T22:59:26+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-14T01:11:15+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2023-01-12T21:22:32+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-01-11T23:13:02+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-11T22:30:44+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-01-11T22:30:37+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-11T19:04:01+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-01-11T00:52:04+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-01-11T00:03:03+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-11T00:03:02+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-01-10T23:22:59+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-01-10T19:15:25+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-01-10T04:17:46+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-01-10T00:08:10+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-01-09T19:47:02+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2023-01-09T17:11:58+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-12-29T22:37:48+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-12-01T16:14:45+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/279c18d8-599d-4c9d-9f0b-0dd55a39fd09`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).