---
type: "Bill"
title: "Establish qualifications for the office of sheriff"
description: "Establish qualifications for the office of sheriff"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 164"
citation: "Montana HB 164 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Counties (see also: Local Government)", "Law Enforcement (see also: Criminal Procedure)", "Local Government (see also: City Subjects; County Subjects)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Barry Usher"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 46
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2018-09-24"
last_action: "2019-04-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/57900be2-2b9d-40ef-96ea-c1b698d3944f"
source_url: "http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=164&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=HB&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20191"
source_hash: "d5e757462598ba4ddb185649a75f63a665a825cce7c85884f9e9a2efffcd351c"
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 164 (2019) — Establish qualifications for the office of sheriff

## Version chain

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

1. **HB0164_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/HB0199//HB0164_1.pdf)
2. **HB0164_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/HB0199//HB0164_2.pdf)
3. **HB0164_x.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/HB0199//HB0164_x.pdf)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2019/billpdf/HB0164.pdf)

## Votes

- Do Pass — **88–12** (pass) · lower
- DO PASS AS AMENDED — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass — **86–14** (pass) · lower
- Do Concur — **39–10** (pass) · upper
- BE CONCURRED IN — **7–1** (pass) · upper
- Do Concur — **40–10** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Barry Usher — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-09-24** Draft Request Received
- **2018-11-02** Draft to Requester for Review
- **2018-11-14** Draft in Legal Review
- **2018-11-16** Draft in Edit
- **2018-11-20** Draft to Drafter - Edit Review [KWK]
- **2018-11-20** Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2018-11-29** Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2018-11-29** Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2018-11-29** Executive Director Review
- **2018-11-29** Draft in Assembly
- **2018-11-30** Pre-Introduction Letter Sent
- **2018-11-30** Pre-Introduction Letter Sent
- **2018-12-19** Executive Director Final Review
- **2018-12-19** Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2019-01-08** Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2019-01-10** Introduced `introduction`
- **2019-01-10** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-10** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-01-10** Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2019-01-24** Hearing
- **2019-02-01** Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-01** Committee Report--Bill Passed as Amended `committee-passage`
- **2019-02-01** Printed - New Version Available
- **2019-02-05** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-02-05** 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2`
- **2019-02-06** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-02-06** 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-02-06** Transmitted to Senate
- **2019-02-07** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2019-02-07** Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-11** Hearing
- **2019-03-13** Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred
- **2019-03-14** Committee Report--Bill Concurred
- **2019-03-19** Scheduled for 2nd Reading
- **2019-03-19** 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2`
- **2019-03-20** Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- **2019-03-20** 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-03-20** Returned to House
- **2019-03-21** Sent to Enrolling
- **2019-03-22** Returned from Enrolling
- **2019-03-22** Printed - Enrolled Version Available
- **2019-03-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-03-27** Signed by President
- **2019-03-27** Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2019-04-03** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2019-04-03** Chapter Number Assigned

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/57900be2-2b9d-40ef-96ea-c1b698d3944f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).