---
type: "Bill"
title: "Generally revise laws related to the POST Council"
description: "Generally revise laws related to the POST Council"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 697"
citation: "Montana HB 697 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Law Enforcement (see also: Criminal Procedure)", "State Government", "Statutory", "Interim Studies"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bill Mercer"]
version_count: 9
action_count: 57
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2022-12-12T17:26:03+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-19T17:13:52+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7ceb9920-0ef7-4b91-9858-fbe7643cb82b"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC4124"
source_hash: "af8849df97521d570b765a68f8cee771e103d90dcb347700b9e630c20cec2dc0"
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 697 (2023) — Generally revise laws related to the POST Council

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0697.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9912)
2. **HB0697.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9914)
3. **HB0697.002.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9915)
4. **HB0697.002.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9913)
5. **HB0697001SCH19618.hlc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=11171)
6. **HB0697_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9919)
7. **HB0697_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9920)
8. **HB0697_3.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9918)
9. **HB0697_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=9917)

## Votes

- (S) 2nd Reading Concurred — **49–1** (pass) · upper
- (S) 3rd Reading Concurred — **45–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- (H) 3rd Reading Passed — **81–16** (pass) · lower
- (H) 2nd Reading Passed — **82–18** (pass) · lower
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended — **14–5** (pass) · lower
- (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred — **96–1** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended — **11–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bill Mercer — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-19T17:13:52+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-18T23:34:45+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`
- **2023-05-04T20:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-05-02T17:09:51+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-05-02T17:09:50+00:00** (H) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-28T22:02:06+00:00** (H) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-28T20:19:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by Senate `passage, passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-04-28T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-27T22:53:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Senate Amendments Concurred `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-27T22:30:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-17T22:11:02+00:00** (S) Returned to House with Amendments
- **2023-04-15T01:54:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-14T20:27:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-14T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-14T15:07:45+00:00** (H) Fiscal Impact Unchanged
- **2023-04-13T18:48:35+00:00** (H) Revised Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-04-12T21:26:47+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-04-12T19:07:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-04-11T17:00:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-03-24T16:21:42+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-03-24T16:21:34+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Unsigned
- **2023-03-24T16:14:02+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-03-24T14:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-03-17T14:54:03+00:00** (S) Hearing Canceled
- **2023-03-13T19:48:27+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-10T00:13:24+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-03-03T21:35:14+00:00** (H) Transmitted to Senate
- **2023-03-03T17:06:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-02T22:41:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-02-28T23:57:30+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-02-28T23:11:00+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`
- **2023-02-28T02:50:13+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-02-27T14:00:24+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-02-21T20:42:31+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-21T18:47:41+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-21T16:58:26+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-21T13:19:34+00:00** (H) Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-02-21T02:47:50+00:00** (H) Introduced
- **2023-02-21T02:47:49+00:00** (C) Fiscal Note Probable
- **2023-02-20T20:21:27+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-02-19T23:35:45+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-19T00:15:25+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-02-19T00:15:21+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-18T23:17:11+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-02-18T23:05:10+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-02-18T20:58:03+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-18T20:58:02+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-02-18T20:10:57+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-02-18T04:41:42+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-02-16T20:59:05+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-02-16T18:59:54+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2023-02-13T22:58:23+00:00** (C) Draft Taken Off Hold
- **2022-12-13T22:26:09+00:00** (C) Draft On Hold
- **2022-12-12T17:26:03+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/7ceb9920-0ef7-4b91-9858-fbe7643cb82b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).