---
type: "Bill"
title: "Establish penalties for false reporting in child protective services cases"
description: "Establish penalties for false reporting in child protective services cases"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 149"
citation: "Montana SB 149 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts (see also: Judges and Justices; Juries and Jurors)", "Minors (see also: Family Law)", "Social Services"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dennis Lenz"]
version_count: 11
action_count: 62
vote_count: 13
first_action: "2022-10-03T18:21:53+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-22T21:09:54+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/100e04e1-d19a-4063-9552-83c93d24464c"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC0548"
source_hash: "612e6d3f5a3c1a93089f8baded4263c80e20197d56c99a8a91b3ba9a783880f7"
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 149 (2023) — Establish penalties for false reporting in child protective services cases

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0149.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4606)
2. **SB0149.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4605)
3. **SB0149.002.005(1).pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=12184)
4. **SB0149.002.005.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4569)
5. **SB0149.002.005_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4607)
6. **SB0149.002.005_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4604)
7. **SB0149001SCS15249.slc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10828)
8. **SB0149_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4565)
9. **SB0149_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4567)
10. **SB0149_3.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4564)
11. **SB0149_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4566)

## Votes

- (H) 3rd Reading Conference Committee Report Adopted — **76–20** (pass) · lower
- (H) 2nd Reading Concurred — **72–27** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- (S) Conference Committee Report Received — **5–1** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Concurred — **70–27** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Conference Committee Report Adopted — **34–16** (pass) · upper
- (H) Conference Committee Report Received — **5–1** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Conference Committee Report Adopted — **35–15** (pass) · upper
- (S) 3rd Reading Passed — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended — **13–6** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Passed — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- (S) 2nd Reading House Amendments Not Concurred — **31–18** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Conference Committee Report Adopted — **88–11** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Dennis Lenz — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-22T21:09:54+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-19T18:33:00+00:00** (S) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-11T22:00:00+00:00** (S) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-11T21:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-05-10T17:30:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-05-08T21:09:08+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-05-08T21:09:07+00:00** (S) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-05-05T16:58:59+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-05-02T22:21:28+00:00** (S) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-05-02T21:33:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Conference Committee Report Adopted `reading-3`
- **2023-05-02T18:27:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Conference Committee Report Adopted `reading-3`
- **2023-05-02T18:20:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Conference Committee Report Adopted `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-05-02T17:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-05-02T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-05-01T21:20:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Conference Committee Report Adopted `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-05-01T20:30:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-27T21:00:02+00:00** (H) Conference Committee Report Received `receipt`
- **2023-04-27T21:00:01+00:00** (S) Conference Committee Report Received `receipt`
- **2023-04-27T21:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-04-26T18:01:00+00:00** (S) Hearing Canceled
- **2023-04-26T18:00:00+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-04-24T23:27:00+00:00** (H) Conference Committee Appointed
- **2023-04-21T21:20:00+00:00** (S) Conference Committee Appointed
- **2023-04-20T20:02:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading House Amendments Not Concurred `amendment-failure, reading-2`
- **2023-04-20T20:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-06T00:13:05+00:00** (H) Returned to Senate with Amendments
- **2023-04-05T21:30:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-04T20:22:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-29T19:30:28+00:00** (S) Fiscal Note Printed
- **2023-03-29T19:30:22+00:00** (C) Fiscal Note Unsigned
- **2023-03-28T14:51:24+00:00** (S) Fiscal Note Received `receipt`
- **2023-03-21T19:59:14+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-03-21T19:21:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-03-21T14:51:16+00:00** (S) Fiscal Note Requested
- **2023-03-21T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-03-21T04:17:52+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-03-16T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-03-11T15:11:16+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-03-11T14:23:03+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-24T21:44:49+00:00** (S) Transmitted to House
- **2023-01-23T22:05:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-01-23T20:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-01-20T20:40:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-01-18T20:04:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-17T22:44:21+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-13T16:00:51+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-01-11T20:18:53+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-01-11T19:14:59+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-11T17:04:18+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-10T21:59:32+00:00** (S) Introduced
- **2023-01-09T16:07:19+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-06T17:30:25+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-01-06T17:30:16+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-06T14:13:45+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-01-05T20:27:27+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-01-05T20:07:48+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-05T20:07:47+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-01-05T15:00:39+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-01-05T03:29:49+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-01-04T15:28:20+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-01-04T14:50:33+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2022-10-03T18:21:53+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/100e04e1-d19a-4063-9552-83c93d24464c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).