HB 344 Montana House · 2025 Regular Session

Revise criminal laws.

HB 344 establishes a new type of driving under the influence (DUI) offense. This offense applies to both noncommercial and commercial drivers found to have a specified amount of prohibited substances, other than alcohol or marijuana, in their blood or other bodily fluids while operating a vehicle. The bill amends existing laws regarding drug concentration standards, driver rehabilitation program eligibility, and penalties for driving with a suspended or revoked license to incorporate this new offense.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Jan 29, 2025 Signed May 5, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB0344_X(2).pdf HB0344_X(3).pdf · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended to update the list of specific code sections it modifies, adding references to sections 61-8-1001, 61-8-1002, and 61-8-1007 while removing the previous listing of 61-8-1008, 61-8-1009, and 61-8-1011. Additionally, a semicolon was added to the end of the first sentence to improve grammatical clarity. These changes appear to be technical corrections or updates to the legislative text rather than substantive policy shifts.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on prohibiting certain substances in drivers' blood, but the specific statutes amended have been updated to reflect a different set of sections.
TECHNICAL

The list of amended code sections was updated to include 61-8-1001, 61-8-1002, and 61-8-1007, while removing 61-8-1008, 61-8-1009, and 61-8-1011 from the list.

A semicolon was added after the mention of marijuana in the first sentence to correct the sentence structure.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 2, 2025 · House Apr 15, 2025

How they voted

3614
Passed
Total votes 50
Apr 2, 2025
D Democratic18
6 Yea 12 Nay
66% Nay
R Republican32
30 Yea 2 Nay
93% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
49
Key actions
9
Committee
6
Amendments
1
May 1, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Apr 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Apr 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 15, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (68-29-3)
house
Apr 2, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (36-14)
senate
Apr 2, 2025
Introduced
(S) Returned to House with Amendments
upper
Mar 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Judiciary
upper
Mar 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Judiciary
upper
Mar 1, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary
upper
Feb 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Judiciary
lower
Jan 30, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary
lower
Jan 29, 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