[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6354000,"mediaKeyId","2220739-b7052fabf3a70ab0290ec30c5e84c2d3","parentId",2220739,"title","Sponsor and bar groups spar over SB193 that would shift attorney-examiner appointments to governor","audioSeconds",244,"startMs",244000,"endMs",488000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2220739-b7052fabf3a70ab0290ec30c5e84c2d3&start=244&end=488","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2220739-b7052fabf3a70ab0290ec30c5e84c2d3/thumbnail_244000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6354000/Montana/Sponsor-and-bar-groups-spar-over-SB193-that-would-shift-attorney-examiner-appointments-to-governor","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6354000-f39f578cd67421c268434e97c153900b/orig.mp4?Expires=1775362346&Signature=br57Lzk3h37b~sfZKf06aXrw4UOjrzPY5FXtlK~XXS6C1~hKeyEU-YnmhqSRR9vfmFC~870hxuNm2UCzStP~QQeCF-wVpJKJDXkOflNJD6sI~vTv8HbwmNmBzaG8btq9fWeO0rkIrhP41UrCGu5WzU2LgbQyrtLYV9wc2VcraJ~4cu7YeY-n-QcGaJxxAuPWnIs9S1X6UNkHDpPxfeZOc96Lu1W41IH~50E7Ot2vhD5rGU7ZNCFzDDaxRYTq3SrZtvhqWTrG0Xp3mjC4lCVW1OCgmLc~SS164TiSDaxrEzexE8vZ5GE9dlD0aiWjbzCLS48CFz2zxWUvjWHD76a9tw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Montana Legislature","date","2025-02-04T00:00:00Z","article","Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Greg Usher opened a hearing on Senate Bill 193, which would amend Montana Code Annotated section 37-61-102 to replace references to the Supreme Court with the governor for appointing members of the attorney's examining board.

Sponsor Sen. Jeremy Trebis of Senate District 10, Great Falls, told the committee he intends the bill to make the governor responsible for appointing members to what the draft language calls the attorney's examining board. Trebis said he is uncertain whether the change should apply to the attorney's examining board or to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC), and that he plans to work with staff on amendments. \"I feel like I kinda lost my way a little bit with this bill,\" Trebis said in his opening remarks.

The State Bar of Montana and several attorneys who testified called the bill unconstitutional. Bruce Spencer, representing the State Bar of Montana, told the committee the Supreme Court alone regulates the practice of law under the Montana Constitution and that the statute in question predates the 1972 constitution. \"You can't do this. The bill's unconstitutional. It's the court that regulates the practice of law,\" Spencer said, noting that the statutory examining board \"is no longer in use\" and that the court now relies on a Board of Bar Examiners created by court rule.

A former State Bar president who identified himself as a \"concerned citizen and past president of the State Bar of Montana\" echoed Spencer's view and urged the committee to table or defeat the bill. Attorney Alexander Colelli (as identified in testimony) told the committee he does not see a problem the bill fixes and said the change would conflict with separation-of-powers principles.

Committee members asked procedural and practical questions. Members noted that subsection 3 of the statute says the board \"shall perform the duties and render assistance in the examinations of applicants as provided by the governor,\" language that would raise possible conflict with the existing Board of Bar Examiners and could require fiscal resources if the governor were to prescribe and administer examinations. Senator Smith asked whether the governor would be administering the bar exam and whether that would create a fiscal note; Trebis said he would accept amending out the exam-prescription language and would keep the core of the bill — the appointment language — if the committee wished.

The hearing produced no committee action on SB193. Trebis told the committee he would draft amendments to remove or revise the portions giving the governor authority over examinations and said he would work on whether the bill should instead reference the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. The legal note in the committee packet, and testimony from bar representatives, raised a clear separation-of-powers concern that the committee and sponsor acknowledged during questioning.

The hearing record contains questions from multiple senators about how the Office of Disciplinary Counsel is staffed and appointed (the chief disciplinary counsel is appointed by the chief justice, witnesses said) and about the historical use of the statutory board. Witnesses stated the statutory attorney's examining board has not been used for many years and that the Supreme Court now uses internally created boards and commissions to regulate the practice of law. No formal vote or motion occurred on SB193 during the hearing.

Ending: The sponsor said he will circulate amendments to address the governor-prescribed exam language and to consider whether the bill should reference the Office of Disciplinary Counsel instead of the defunct statutory board. The committee closed the hearing on SB193 and moved on to other agenda items.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Judiciary 2025-02-04","oneSentenceSummary","Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Greg Usher opened a hearing on Senate Bill 193, which would amend MCA 37-61-102 to shift appointing authority for the attorney's examining board from the Montana Supreme Court to the governor.","taxTitle","2025 Legislature MT, Montana","taxId",77694,"location","Montana","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6353996,"Senate tables SB209 after hours of testimony for and against 40-year limit on conservation easements",5604,2796000,8400000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2220739-b7052fabf3a70ab0290ec30c5e84c2d3&start=2796&end=8400","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2220739-b7052fabf3a70ab0290ec30c5e84c2d3/thumbnail_2796000.jpg","/articles/6353996/Montana/Senate-tables-SB209-after-hours-of-testimony-for-and-against-40-year-limit-on-conservation-easements","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6353996-1c4907643599a7eea6accd6097b8cb42/orig.mp4?Expires=1775362346&Signature=UroDkVoPS1FYdXacvQq4w4OMyiKKnFfQl6SO8YaEW7AoYtqqCzoNJQlZtiNpylt6WXoI5V3rqEwomoUGx3kGyyEDgK~7v9jjFiWoJjchM2pgTQyNNUDNBnJNyT4LAoabVu0xDfJ9clzJPFBfBcsd9G2skK7Xa7-HnejZ2R-ooB0yNF-hZODfeiWoNLFMfAzpQBWqKxuAZm6vvlP7EQZx4ud3Z5SkccOvYlpxDxEjdY339PzHLXOvBQG7fY2hSnhYy5FLELX722K2Zkw4bvePO5LAdtNJcSXxD6KPe3~V~ESrd0b3kWmOr8SXoXySvr~tOWnaHc17VjK7k1IP3TJmZw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Greg Usher opened a hearing on Senate Bill 209, an act that would limit the term length of conservation easements to 40 years, prohibit easement restrictions on agricultural activity and prohibit the transfer of conserved land to federal control. Sponsor Sen. Tony Tezak (Senate District 35) said he introduced the measure to protect \"the Montana way of life,\" particularly ranching and agriculture, and then asked the committee to hear testimony while he worked on a solution outside the legislative process. \"I and we, I believe, can achieve our main objective and goal. And have I there have regrettedly decided to table this bill,\" Tezak said in his opening remarks.

The committee heard several hours of testimony from a broad cross-section of Montana interests. Proponents of limiting perpetual easements included Charles Denow, representing United Property Owners of Montana, who argued long or perpetual easements can reduce landowners’ ability to capture future value and can function as a monopsony favoring land trusts; Denow said term easements \"allow land owners an opportunity to even the playing field.\" Opponents included timber companies, hunting and conservation organizations, county land-trust partners and dozens of ranchers who testified that perpetual conservation easements are essential estate-planning tools that permit family farms and ranches to remain in production and to transfer intact to the next generation.

Speakers opposing the bill included representatives from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Wild Sheep Foundation, Boone and Crockett Club, Trust for Public Land, Ducks Unlimited, Montana Land Reliance and numerous landowners and family ranches who gave first-person accounts of using perpetual easements to keep properties in agriculture and open to public recreation. Jason Callahan of Green Diamond Resource Company said conservation easements allowed his company to sustain timber management and pay workers while forests regrow; he said easements include working-lands management provisions and in his company’s easements motorized recreation is not precluded.

Several landowners described using conservation easements to fund estate transitions and buy neighboring acreage with 1031 exchange proceeds. Cooper Hibbard and Terrell Hibbard described multi‑generation ranch transfers that they say would not have been possible without perpetual easements. Witnesses representing the Montana Chamber of Commerce and Montana Wood Products Association said limiting perpetuity could hinder industrial reclamation projects and reduce timber supply to mills.

Land-trust representatives said their organizations do not buy land, that participation in easements is voluntary and that demand often outstrips their capacity. Kendall Van Dyke of the Montana Land Reliance said, \"In 50 years, almost 50 years, the Montana Land Reliance has never purchased farm or ranch land.\" Several witnesses noted that most working‑land easements used NRCS (USDA) programs for funding and that placing federal funds on an easement does not transfer ownership to the federal government.

After hearings that the chair curtailed to one to two minutes per speaker to accommodate many in person and online, Senator Ricky (as recorded in the hearing) moved to table SB209. The committee took a voice vote; the clerk recorded three senators voting aye by proxy (Senator Madsail, Senator And Ritchie, and Senator Smith) and the motion passed. The committee placed SB209 on the table by the sponsor’s request and agreement that further work would occur outside the immediate bill process.

Ending: The sponsor said he would pursue negotiations with landowners and land trusts outside the committee and the hearing record was left open for written testimony; the committee voted to table SB209.","Sponsor Sen. Tony Tezak asked to table Senate Bill 209, which would limit conservation easements to 40 years and bar certain restrictions; the committee received several hours of testimony from ranchers, land trusts, hunters' groups and timber companies before the committee voted to table the bill.","actionData","errors"]

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Sponsor and bar groups spar over SB193 that would shift attorney-examiner appointments to governor

Senate tables SB209 after hours of testimony for and against 40-year limit on conservation easements