HB 267 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Revise DUI laws related to enacting Bobby's law

HB 267, also known as "Bobby's Law," creates the new crime of aggravated vehicular homicide while under the influence. This bill applies to individuals who negligently cause another person's death while operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Upon conviction, offenders face mandatory imprisonment ranging from 3 to 30 years, a fine between $10,000 and $50,000, or both. A key provision is that the imposition of this sentence cannot be deferred, meaning it must be served immediately upon conviction. The bill also updates existing statutes to include this new offense as a "serious crime" and to reflect the non-deferrable sentencing.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
Apr 2025
Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Signed Apr 25, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0267_X(2).pdf HB0267_X(3).pdf · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill broadens the scope of aggravated vehicular homicide by removing the requirement that the driver must act 'negligently' to be charged. It also expands the list of specific driving violations that trigger the charge to include subsection (1)(d), ensuring that a wider range of impaired driving behaviors resulting in death are prosecuted under this severe penalty.
Scope change
The bill expands the applicability of the aggravated vehicular homicide charge to include more types of driving violations and removes the negligence threshold, making it easier to prosecute drivers who cause death while impaired.
REQUIREMENT

Removed the word 'negligently' from the definition of the offense, meaning the prosecution no longer needs to prove the driver was careless, only that they caused death while impaired.

ELIGIBILITY

Added violation 61-8-1002(1)(d) to the list of driving infractions that, when combined with DUI, constitute aggravated vehicular homicide.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 15, 2025 · House Apr 22, 2025

How they voted

454
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 50
Apr 15, 2025
D Democratic18
14 Yea 4 Nay
77% Yea
R Republican32
31 Yea 1
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
57
Key actions
13
Committee
12
Amendments
1
Apr 25, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Apr 23, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Apr 23, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 22, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (95-3-2)
house
Apr 15, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (45-4-1)
senate
Apr 15, 2025
Introduced
(S) Returned to House with Amendments
upper
Apr 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Finance and Claims
upper
Apr 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Finance and Claims
upper
Apr 9, 2025
Committee
(S) Rereferred to Committee - (S) Finance and Claims
upper
Apr 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Judiciary
upper
Apr 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Judiciary
upper
Mar 1, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary
upper
Feb 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Appropriations
lower
Feb 17, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Appropriations
lower
Feb 6, 2025
Committee
(H) Rereferred to Committee - (H) Appropriations
lower
Jan 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Judiciary
lower
Jan 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Judiciary
lower
Jan 22, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary
lower
Jan 21, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Braxton Mitchell
Braxton Mitchell
RRepublican
MT
5