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County attorney says House Bill 547 would clarify authority over volunteer fire budgets
Summary
County Attorney Matt Enruth told the study commission that House Bill 547 would align state law with the county charter by returning budget authority for volunteer fire departments to the county, resolving a conflict triggered by an Attorney General opinion and prior practice.
Butte‑Silver Bow County Attorney Matt Enruth addressed recent controversy over volunteer fire‑department authority and House Bill 547 during a study commission meeting, saying the proposed legislation would correct a legal mismatch between state statute and local practice.
Enruth summarized the background: an Attorney General’s opinion interpreted state law as giving volunteer fire districts independent budget authority under Title 7. That interpretation, he said, would require volunteers to levy for their own budgets rather than receive county budget allocations. “Butte‑Silver Bow, last year alone in 2024, prosecuted over 400 felony cases,” Enruth said earlier in the meeting while discussing court workload; on the volunteer-fire matter he said the practical result prior to the bill had been confusion about whether volunteers or the county set and paid the volunteer departments’ budgets.
“I think the bill cleans that up from a legal perspective,” Enruth said of House Bill 547, explaining that if the measure passes the county’s charter and ordinances would govern fire‑department budgeting and expectations; if it does not, volunteers would retain statutory budget authority and the county would face a different legal framework.
Enruth argued House Bill 547 would restore a consistent local practice: under the county charter the county has a combined paid and volunteer fire system and the county commissioners retain authority over county budgets and decisions to alter local services. He told commissioners the bill is designed to place budgeting and chain-of-command questions under the local charter rather than the statutory interpretation that had been issued in the Attorney General’s opinion.
Several commissioners expressed concern about process and inclusion of volunteer departments when the bill was drafted. Enruth said his office handled legal analysis but was not part of the political process and recommended that the study commission consider a public, locally driven process for any future charter or ordinance changes affecting volunteers.
Ending: Enruth advised the commission that, from his office’s legal perspective, House Bill 547 would align local law with practical operations and reduce legal uncertainty; commissioners said they want to ensure volunteers and other stakeholders are fully included in any locally driven changes.
