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HB 236 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Provide for evaluations of defendants in detention centers or state prisons

HB 236 aimed to allow mental health evaluations for criminal defendants, used to determine their fitness to proceed in court, to be conducted within detention centers or state prisons. It directed the Department of Public Health and Human Services to create rules for these facilities, covering aspects like defendant care, security for evaluators, and the use of remote communication for examinations. The bill also outlined which entities, such as the courts or public defender's office, would be responsible for covering the costs of these evaluations and related expenses. This would have impacted criminal defendants undergoing such evaluations and the correctional facilities hosting them.
Issues: ✓ Criminal JusticeSupports Criminal JusticeBill mandates mental health evaluations for defendants' fitness to proceed, aligning with criminal justice reform by protecting defendant rights and improving court proceedings through proper mental health assessments.85% confidence
Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 16, 2025 Last action May 22, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0236_2(8).pdf → HB0236_2(9).pdf · 4 edits
MODERATE
This bill updates the rules for conducting mental fitness examinations for defendants at detention centers and clarifies who pays for these exams. It requires the Department of Public Health and Human Services to create specific rules for remote examinations and qualification determinations. The bill also amends existing statutes to detail how costs are allocated between the court, the defendant, and the state depending on who requested the exam.
Scope change
The scope expanded to include formal rulemaking requirements for remote examinations and clarified the definition of 'other associated expenses' to include medical and dental care.
REQUIREMENT

Added a new section requiring the Department of Public Health and Human Services to adopt rules for conducting remote examinations and determining when follow-up exams are needed.

Updated the statute to allow the court to order a defendant's privately retained examiner to witness and participate in the examination process.

FISCAL

Modified the statute to specify that costs for exams performed by state employees using state facilities cannot be charged to the court or public defender offices.

DEFINITION

Added a specific definition for 'other associated expenses' to include medical, dental, and medication costs incurred during the commitment for examination.

Floor votes · House Feb 19, 2025

How they voted

82–18
Passed
Total votes 100
Feb 19, 2025
D Democratic42
42 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican58
40 Yea 18 Nay
68% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
38
Key actions
3
Committee
4
Amendments
2
Mar 19, 2025
Amended
(S) Tabled in Committee - (S) Judiciary
upper
Mar 1, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary
upper
Feb 19, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (82-18)
house
Feb 14, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Human Services
lower
Feb 14, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Human Services
lower
Feb 1, 2025
Amended
(H) Tabled in Committee - (H) Human Services
lower
Jan 17, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Human Services
lower
Jan 16, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of James Reavis
James Reavis
DDemocratic
MT
47