HELENA — This year the Montana Legislature has already seen spirited discussion about property taxes, judicial reform and more. However, many of the hundreds of bills currently introduced don’t see those passionate debates.
(Watch to learn more about Montana lawmaker's work updating outdated laws)
House Bill 247, which would repeal dueling penalties in Montana, is one of those smaller bills and part of the legislature’s regular work identifying unneeded and out-of-date Montana Code.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of that. We’ll see a lot of bills in every different sector of life, things that we are dealing with,” HB 247’s sponsor Rep. Braxton Mitchell, R-Columbia Falls, said. “Stuff like this that is definitely outdated. You know, manslaughter is illegal. You can’t go around and kill somebody but if you read the statute it makes it seem like you can go duel with someone.”
HB 247 is a small part of the bills Rep. Mitchell is already carrying, such as legislation looking to limit government use of AI systems, creating stronger penalties when a driver kills someone while drunk, and revising election laws.
In the early days of Montana, dueling was not an uncommon way for individuals to solve serious disputes. It’s been over a century since the last recorded duel took place in the Treasure State, but under current Montana law, a person is responsible for providing financial support for the family of the individual they injure or kill in a duel.
If a person slays or permanently disables another person in a duel in this state, the person shall provide for the maintenance of the spouse and minor children of the person slain or permanently disabled in a manner and at a cost, either by aggregate compensation in damages to each or by a monthly, quarterly, or annual allowance, that is determined by the court and the party is liable for and shall pay all debts of the person slain or permanently disabled.
HB 247 was initially a request from Lt. Governor Kristen Juras as part of the Governor’s Office's “Red Tape Relief Initiative.” The program was created from Gov. Greg Gianforte’s first executive order which aims to streamline and update Montana code and procedures.
“Each agency was asked to look at the statutes that govern their operations and the agencies have identified outdated and duly cumbersome statutes that need to be either amended or entirely repealed,” said Juras.
After the statutes are identified, they are prioritized and then the Governor’s office partners with legislators on developing and carrying the bills.
“We’re continuing the effort this session as well. In 2023 we introduced 190 red tape bills, over 90% were signed into law. This session will be around 123 bills,” noted Juras.
Juras also recalled a situation when her children violated outdated Montana law.
“To sell fruit door to door, which my boys did in high school for their band, they didn’t realize they had to have a huckster’s license. And it had not been issued in any of the counties for decades according to our research, so that was an outdated statute we eliminated,” said Juras.
The Montana Legislature only meets for 90 days every two years and lawmakers are cognisant of how much time they spend on any single piece of legislation.
As for how much time is spent on a bill like HB 247 repealing dueling penalties, well, it took less than 5 minutes in committee and 3 minutes on the floor of the House.
HB 247 passed the Montana House of Representatives 84 to 16 and is now headed to the Senate.
