How is Montana approaching first-responder scene safety and statewide emergency communications?

Recent Montana public-safety debate has focused on two ongoing threads: a proposed 'halo' or buffer statute (draft LJIC-PD3) that would criminalize obstructing first responders within a defined distance after a warning, and persistent gaps in local and statewide emergency-radio coverage. Law-enforcement leaders told the interim committee in March 2026 that a narrowly framed 25-foot buffer could improve scene safety, and county officials that same month authorized an outside audit of local radio infrastructure after documented mutual-aid channel failures.

AI-generated summary compiled from Citizen Portal's coverage of the bill. Officials' positions below are sourced from their own words in indexed meetings and press events.