_________ Bill No. _______

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________

A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act revising the deferred imposition of sentence to allow early dismissal; amending section 46-18-204, mca; and providing an immediate effective date."

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:

Section 1.  Section 46-18-204, MCA, is amended to read:

"46-18-204.   Dismissal after deferred imposition. (1) Whenever the court has deferred the imposition of sentence and after termination of the time period during which imposition of sentence has been deferred, upon motion of the court, the defendant, or the defendant's attorney, the court may allow the defendant to withdraw his the defendant's plea of guilty or may strike the verdict of guilty from the record and order that the charge or charges against him the defendant be dismissed.

(2) Prior to the termination of the time period for which the court has deferred imposition of sentence, the court, upon motion by the supervising probation officer, may allow the defendant to withdraw the defendant's plea of guilty or may strike the verdict of guilty from the record and may order that the charge or charges against the defendant be dismissed upon a showing of good cause.

(3) A copy of the order of dismissal must be sent to the prosecutor and the department of justice, accompanied by a form prepared by the department of justice and containing identifying information about the defendant. After the charge is dismissed, all records and data relating to the charge are confidential criminal justice information, as defined in 44-5-103, and public access to the information may only be obtained only by district court order upon good cause shown."

NEW SECTION. Section 2.  Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.

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