HOUSE BILL NO. 576

INTRODUCED BY D. ADAMS

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT REQUIRING THE GATHERING, COMPILATION, AND REPORTING OF CRIMES THAT HAVE GAMBLING AS AN ELEMENT OR THAT ARE CAUSED BY OR OTHERWISE RELATED TO GAMBLING."

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

NEW SECTION. Section 1. Statistics on gambling-related crimes -- rulemaking authority -- reports. (1) Each police department and sheriff's office shall record each arrest for a criminal offense an element of which or the underlying facts of which relate to gambling. Each county attorney's office shall record each criminal complaint and each conviction for a criminal offense an element of which or the underlying facts of which relate to gambling. If it is reasonable to believe that a crime was wholly or partially caused by gambling or otherwise has underlying facts related to gambling, an arrest or complaint must be recorded. The records must record totals for arrests, complaints, and convictions for each type of crime.

(2) Each police department, sheriff's office, and county attorney shall, by February 15 of each year, report its recorded data for the prior year to the board of crime control. The board shall, by April 1 of each year, compile the data for the prior year into a written report.

(3) The board of crime control shall adopt rules creating a uniform system for the gathering, compiling, recording, and reporting of data by police departments, sheriff's offices, and county attorneys and for determining when and which types of crimes have gambling as an element or are caused by or otherwise related to gambling.

NEW SECTION. Section 2. Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 23, chapter 5, part 1, and the provisions of Title 23, chapter 5, apply to [section 1].

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