---
type: "Bill"
title: "Allow a professional person to testify remotely in certain civil proceedings"
description: "Allow a professional person to testify remotely in certain civil proceedings"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 445"
citation: "Montana SB 445 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts (see also: Judges and Justices; Juries and Jurors)", "Criminal Procedure (see also: Law Enforcement)", "Mental Illness or Incapacity (see also: Institutions)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Kenneth Bogner"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 53
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2022-12-05T19:56:01+00:00"
last_action: "2023-05-22T20:01:39+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/72a90e22-0f50-4328-8a47-77a75c7222e3"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC4147"
source_hash: "3b4d199526978da44cbb91b1df7ee2b1b9b5af3352f3649f52f0d081d8bdf465"
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 445 (2023) — Allow a professional person to testify remotely in certain civil proceedings

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0445.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=19331)
2. **SB0445.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=19330)
3. **SB0445001SCS18796.slc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=19329)
4. **SB0445_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=19334)
5. **SB0445_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=19333)
6. **SB0445_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=19332)

## Votes

- (H) 3rd Reading Concurred — **98–2** (pass) · lower
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed — **7–4** (pass) · upper
- (S) 3rd Reading Passed — **43–7** (pass) · upper
- (S) 2nd Reading House Amendments Concurred — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Passed — **39–11** (pass) · upper
- (S) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by House — **46–3** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Concurred — **95–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Kenneth Bogner — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-05-22T20:01:39+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-05-22T15:21:00+00:00** (S) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-12T15:30:00+00:00** (S) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-11T10:00:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-05-04T17:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-27T23:28:50+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-27T23:28:49+00:00** (S) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-25T13:29:24+00:00** (S) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-24T23:16:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by House `passage, passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-04-24T15:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-21T20:19:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading House Amendments Concurred `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-21T19:00:01+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-21T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-14T19:38:56+00:00** (H) Returned to Senate with Amendments
- **2023-04-13T22:37:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-13T19:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-12T21:13:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-12T14:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-06T22:28:49+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-04-06T22:02:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-04-06T20:04:37+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-04-05T13:00:00+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-04-05T12:19:32+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-03-15T21:45:58+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-03-15T21:16:21+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-03T18:25:00+00:00** (S) Transmitted to House
- **2023-03-03T04:50:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-03-02T20:30:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-02T15:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-02-28T20:15:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-27T15:00:00+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-24T15:00:26+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-02-21T20:27:00+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-02-21T19:29:16+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-21T18:04:43+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-21T18:00:05+00:00** (S) Introduced
- **2023-02-20T19:57:53+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-02-19T23:36:02+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-19T00:14:25+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-02-19T00:14:21+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-02-18T23:09:49+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-02-18T22:57:04+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-02-18T22:07:34+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-02-18T22:07:33+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-02-18T20:25:31+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-02-18T20:22:07+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-02-16T22:39:13+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-02-16T22:35:42+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2023-02-16T22:15:21+00:00** (C) Draft to Requester for Review
- **2023-02-16T21:57:06+00:00** (C) Draft Taken Off Hold
- **2022-12-14T15:05:03+00:00** (C) Draft On Hold
- **2022-12-14T14:50:47+00:00** (C) Draft Request Received `receipt`
- **2022-12-05T19:56:01+00:00** (C) Draft On Hold

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/72a90e22-0f50-4328-8a47-77a75c7222e3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).