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Senate concurs on Office of State Public Defender cleanup bill after amendment to preserve Montana child-representation language fails
Summary
The Montana Senate voted to concur in House Bill 102, an agency "clean up" measure for the Office of State Public Defender (OPD). An amendment to retain Montana-specific language for counsel for children was rejected 23–26 in committee before the full concurrence vote passed 32–18 on second reading.
House Bill 102, a statutory cleanup for the Office of State Public Defender, was concurred in by the Montana Senate on second reading after a divided committee debate over an amendment to preserve state-specific practice language for representation of children.
The bill, carried in the Senate by Senator Smith, updates language in Title 47 to reflect organizational changes at OPD, renames certain division administrators, clarifies duties for central services, and replaces an explicit, single-case-type practice standard with adoption of national practice standards across case types. "It's an agency cleanup bill," Senator Smith said on the floor, describing the measure as intended to "keep things clean, streamlined, and effective for government."
Why it matters: supporters said the bill aligns statutory language with how…
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