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State Bar Urges Senate Judiciary to Table Bill Shifting Attorney-Examining Board Appointments to Governor
Summary
Senator Jeremy Trebis introduced SB193 to make the governor appoint members of the attorney's examining board; State Bar representatives and practicing attorneys told the Senate Judiciary Committee the change likely conflicts with the Montana Constitution and urged tabling or repeal of the obsolete statute.
Senate Judiciary Chair Usher opened a hearing on Senate Bill 193, a short measure that would replace multiple references to the Supreme Court with the governor for appointment of the attorney's examining board. Senator Jeremy Trebis (Senate District 10, Great Falls) said the bill seeks to move appointment authority to the governor but acknowledged he was unsure whether the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) might be the more appropriate target for amendment.
Bruce Spencer, representing the State Bar of Montana, testified in opposition, telling the committee: "The bill's unconstitutional. It's the court that regulates the practice of law." Spencer said the statutory board named in 37-61-102 is obsolete, that the Supreme Court now uses a Board of Bar Examiners by internal rule, and that the contested portions of the bill would conflict with the court's constitutional authority over admission and discipline of lawyers.
Other witnesses echoed that separation-of-powers concern. A past State Bar president urged the committee to table or vote down the bill, and attorney Alexander Colelli, who recently took the bar exam in Helena, said he saw no problem with the current exam process and called the bill unnecessary.
Committee members questioned witnesses about administrative details and the history of the statute. Spencer said the statute has not been in active use "quite some time" and confirmed that the ODC chief is appointed by the chief justice while trustees of the state bar are elected by bar members. Senators asked whether a statutory repealer would be a cleaner fix; Spencer said a repealer would likely "cause no harm or no foul." Senator Smith raised fiscal and operational concerns about a provision that could let the governor "prescribe" examination procedures, which Spencer said would conflict with rules promulgated by the Board of Bar Examiners and might invite overlapping rule sets.
Trebis closed by offering to draft amendments to strike the portion that makes the governor responsible for prescribing examination administration while retaining the narrower appointment language he considers the core of the bill, and thanked the committee for the hearing. The committee closed the hearing on SB193 without taking a vote.
What happens next: The sponsor said he will prepare an amendment to remove the governor-prescribed exam language; the committee did not act on the bill during today’s meeting.
