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Law-enforcement, child-services back bill to add fentanyl, heroin and cocaine to child-endangerment law
Summary
Rep. Courtney Sprunger said HB 289 would expand child-endangerment statutes to include fentanyl, heroin and cocaine exposure; county attorneys and child-welfare advocates supported the narrow drafting, while members asked to tighten paraphernalia language to avoid unintended harm to harm-reduction tools.
Representative Courtney Sprunger opened the hearing on House Bill 289, saying the bill would explicitly add fentanyl, heroin and cocaine to statutes that criminalize exposing a child to dangerous drugs. Sprunger framed the proposal as narrow and aimed at protecting children who live in homes where lethal substances are present; she cited local cases where children were found in contaminated environments and national research showing rising infant deaths linked to drug exposure.
County attorneys and law-enforcement proponents urged passage. Josh Racki (Cascade County Attorney and Montana County Attorneys Association president) said many exposure cases involve simple discovery of drugs and hair-sample evidence rather than manufacture, so current statutes are sometimes the wrong fit. Travis Honor (Flathead County Attorney) and Leo Dutton (Lewis and Clark County sheriff) described child fatalities, withdrawals and paraphernalia exposure in homes, and asked for a statute that specifically targets exposure to these high-risk substances.
Child-welfare and public-health voices supported a narrow approach. Nikki Grossberg (CHALM Family Services) said her agency sees the harms to children daily and supported treatment plus protective tools. Matt Jennings (Missoula County Attorney) and other county prosecutors urged careful drafting so the law focuses on fentanyl, heroin and cocaine exposure rather than capturing benign items.
Drafting concerns and next steps: Members raised drafting questions about the bill's reference to "drug paraphernalia" (45-10-101). Representative Howell and others said that cross-referencing a broad paraphernalia definition could unintentionally criminalize items such as marijuana pipes or harm-reduction tools like fentanyl test strips. Sponsor Sprunger and county attorneys acknowledged the concern and committed to work with members and county attorneys to narrow statutory references and craft amendments to preserve the bill's child-protection focus while avoiding unintended consequences for public-health workers and caregivers.
Outcome and next steps: Sprunger closed urging passage and offered to collaborate on language fixes. Members agreed to delay executive action for time to draft clarifying amendments; no final vote was taken today.
