Senate Judiciary hears broad testimony on SB 318, ‘Brody’s Law,’ to require domestic-violence training in family courts

Senate Bill 318, introduced by Senator Lance as “Brody’s Law,” drew hours of testimony before the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee on proposals to require trauma-informed, culturally appropriate domestic-violence (DV) and child-abuse training for judges, standing masters, guardian ad litems (GALs), and other family-court professionals.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Lance, told the committee SB 318 “closes loopholes in the code that allow abusive parents to repeatedly violate parenting plans” and said the measure “strengthens the ability of the courts to recognize and adjudicate domestic violence and child abuse allegations.”

Why it matters: Proponents said the change would reduce post-separation abuse and protect children. Kyla Hailstone, director of the Montana Family Court Awareness Project, told the committee the measure is the product of multi-year research and a string of cases in which advocates say courts failed to account for past abuse. “We cannot afford to lose any more,” Hailstone said, urging the committee to pass the bill “to protect children and victims in family law.” She and other witnesses cited statewide statistics during testimony, including roughly 10,000 divorces and more than 11,000 domestic-violence cases filed annually in Montana, and said existing court training on DV is minimal or inconsistent.

What proponents…