Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
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In a package of legislation that made wide-ranging reforms to Montana’s criminal justice system, one bill stands out in the scope of the changes it made to Montana law.
House Bill 133.
“It’s such a sweeping change from how things used to be,” said Rep. Nate McConnell, D-Missoula, who sponsored the legislation. “If you’re going to do comprehensive reform…you couldn’t put a Band-Aid on this thing.”
The goal of the bill was to reduce the burden on taxpayers that is caused by “enormous pressure” on detention facilities across the state, McConnell said.
The suite of bills that HB 133 was passed with were the product of a bipartisan legislative interim committee that spent 13 months studying Montana’s sentencing policies and practices, identifying strategies to reduce recidivism and coming up with legislation to help take the burden off the state’s prisons and jails.
That committee, the Commission on Sentencing, was put together after the 2015 Legislature passed a bill creating the interim study.
The 15-person commission worked with the national nonprofit Council of State Governments Justice Center to study Montana’s correctional system and their proposals for this year’s legislative session.
All told, 12 bills were introduced, 10 of which were passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Steve Bullock this summer.
The bills ranged from replacing appointed volunteers with full-time hired members on the Board of Pardons and Parole, creating a domestic violence offender intervention program, making available grants to help counties create pre-trial services and prosecution diversion programs, and more.
They are estimated to help Montana avoid spending an additional $69 million over the next six years.
House Bill 133 is the most wide-sweeping change to Montana’s criminal laws that came out of the package, eliminating jail time for certain misdemeanors, reducing maximum sentences for some felonies and much more.
Criminal justice system adjusting to "sweeping" changes from legislative reform
I bet right out of the ball park people will be talking good about how awesome this was. That will last for about six months and all of the journalists will be saying it's peachy keen. And then........... there will be some truth telling and a big rethink.
House Bill 133.
“It’s such a sweeping change from how things used to be,” said Rep. Nate McConnell, D-Missoula, who sponsored the legislation. “If you’re going to do comprehensive reform…you couldn’t put a Band-Aid on this thing.”
The goal of the bill was to reduce the burden on taxpayers that is caused by “enormous pressure” on detention facilities across the state, McConnell said.
The suite of bills that HB 133 was passed with were the product of a bipartisan legislative interim committee that spent 13 months studying Montana’s sentencing policies and practices, identifying strategies to reduce recidivism and coming up with legislation to help take the burden off the state’s prisons and jails.
That committee, the Commission on Sentencing, was put together after the 2015 Legislature passed a bill creating the interim study.
The 15-person commission worked with the national nonprofit Council of State Governments Justice Center to study Montana’s correctional system and their proposals for this year’s legislative session.
All told, 12 bills were introduced, 10 of which were passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Steve Bullock this summer.
The bills ranged from replacing appointed volunteers with full-time hired members on the Board of Pardons and Parole, creating a domestic violence offender intervention program, making available grants to help counties create pre-trial services and prosecution diversion programs, and more.
They are estimated to help Montana avoid spending an additional $69 million over the next six years.
House Bill 133 is the most wide-sweeping change to Montana’s criminal laws that came out of the package, eliminating jail time for certain misdemeanors, reducing maximum sentences for some felonies and much more.
Criminal justice system adjusting to "sweeping" changes from legislative reform
I bet right out of the ball park people will be talking good about how awesome this was. That will last for about six months and all of the journalists will be saying it's peachy keen. And then........... there will be some truth telling and a big rethink.
