Committee: Law and Justice Interim Committee
Author: Rachel Weiss
Posted on August 16, 2018
The Law and Justice Interim Committee members kept their eyes focused on the upcoming legislative session during the committee’s July meeting. Staff from every agency under the LJIC’s jurisdiction and the Judicial Branch updated the committee on their work this interim. Then LJIC reviewed and approved the drafting of the various legislative proposals the agencies and the Judicial Branch will propose to the Legislature in 2019.
The LJIC also voted to forward one of its own bills to the 2019 Legislature. That bill would clarify that the LJIC is the proper interim committee to oversee the operations of the Office of State Public Defender. It will reinsert into law a phrase that previously ensured that there was no conflict in oversight assignments for the LJIC and the State Administration and Veterans’ Affairs Interim Committee.
Committee members also took public comment and discussed two other draft bills in July. One would revise the process used to appoint Board of Pardons and Parole members. The other would establish a state policy and place certain restrictions around the use of solitary confinement in state prisons. Both bills were amended by the committee, which will review the revised drafts at its final meeting in the fall.
The LJIC also requested a fourth bill to be drafted for consideration. The bill would eliminate or revise statutory references to Article II, section 36, of the Montana Constitution. That constitutional section -- also known as Marsy’s Law -- was created by voters in November 2016. The Montana Supreme Court voided the initiative that created Marsy’s Law, rendering obsolete certain laws enacted or revised in 2017 that refer to Marsy’s Law.
The LJIC will wrap up its interim work at a meeting in Helena on September 11. In addition to taking public comment on its 3 potential committee bills, the members will get an update on a possible revision to uniform probate laws and follow up on any results from several bills in the 2017 session that revised sexual assault laws and created a strangulation crime. More information about the September meeting, including an agenda, will be available at the end of August.
For more information about the committee, please visit its website or contact committee staff.
Committee website: leg.mt.gov/ljic
Committee staff: Rachel Weiss, rweiss@mt.gov or 406-444-5367
