---
type: "Bill"
title: "Require evidence discovery in CPS cases"
description: "Require evidence discovery in CPS cases"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 385"
citation: "Montana HB 385 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts (see also: Judges and Justices; Juries and Jurors)", "Evidence", "Minors (see also: Family Law)", "Social Services"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jennifer Carlson"]
version_count: 11
action_count: 54
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2022-11-13T22:57:01+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-19T20:23:21+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3c29f79b-740b-4572-b2f7-8f370f220018"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC1140"
source_hash: "d15f3b11450e6b9df1637e062b4961a34e1d3f58e601c91fd46ccb5726e64c34"
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 385 (2023) — Require evidence discovery in CPS cases

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0385.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8075)
2. **HB0385.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8078)
3. **HB0385.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8076)
4. **HB0385.001.003_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8077)
5. **HB0385.001.003_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8079)
6. **HB0385.002.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8081)
7. **HB0385.002.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8080)
8. **HB0385_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8084)
9. **HB0385_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8086)
10. **HB0385_3.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8083)
11. **HB0385_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=8085)

## Votes

- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred — **46–4** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred — **83–17** (pass) · lower
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended — **6–3** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate — **89–9** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **41–9** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **99–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jennifer Carlson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-19T20:23:21+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-19T00:09:28+00:00** (H) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-08T16:20:00+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-04T18:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-29T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-23T19:00:58+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-23T19:00:57+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-20T15:23:33+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-19T19:32:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate `passage, passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-04-19T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-18T19:39:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-18T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-06T21:16:35+00:00** (S) Returned to House with Amendments
- **2023-04-05T20:02:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-05T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-04T19:58:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-04T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-03-27T20:58:50+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-03-27T19:23:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-03-24T20:00:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-03-15T21:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-03-03T04:05:49+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-28T20:34:00+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-28T15:39:21+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-02-27T22:17:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-02-24T20:55:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-02-21T21:06:29+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-02-21T20:22:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-20T15:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-17T03:06:09+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-02-15T15:00:32+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-02-09T23:44:52+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-02-09T21:02:05+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Unsigned
- **2023-02-09T14:29:33+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-02-03T20:16:30+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-03T18:48:42+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-02T21:31:03+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-02T16:06:59+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-02-02T15:45:34+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2023-02-02T15:45:33+00:00** (C) Fiscal Note Probable
- **2023-02-01T17:07:16+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-01-31T23:40:04+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-31T17:21:29+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-01-31T17:21:25+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-30T21:44:15+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-01-30T20:07:21+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-01-30T00:45:06+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-30T00:45:05+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-01-29T21:17:36+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-01-29T02:39:19+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-01-27T19:01:19+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-01-25T16:46:01+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2023-01-16T21:17:16+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2022-11-13T22:57:01+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/3c29f79b-740b-4572-b2f7-8f370f220018`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).