The bill revises the laws regarding exempt personal staff for legislative leadership in Montana, increasing the allowable number of exempt personal staff positions from one to four for each caucus. It establishes that each caucus can have exempt personal legal staff on an as-needed basis, and it makes the special counsel position permanent. The bill also allows for the hiring of additional personal legal staff and provides a funding allocation for these positions. Furthermore, it amends existing definitions and provisions related to the roles and responsibilities of special counsel, including the ability to enter contracts after serving in that position.

Additionally, the bill repeals a previous section of law and includes provisions for retroactive applicability, ensuring that the changes apply to special counsel and exempt personal legal staff hired during the 68th legislative session. The amendments to sections 2-2-201 and 2-18-104 clarify the roles of personal staff and special counsel, while also ensuring that the legal staff for both the majority and minority parties are licensed to practice law in Montana and may be hired on a contract basis.

Statutes affected:
HB0260_1.pdf: 2-2-201, 2-18-104, 5-5-110
HB0260_2.pdf: 2-2-201, 2-18-104, 5-5-110
HB0260_3.pdf: 2-2-201, 2-18-104, 5-5-110
Amended: 2-2-201, 2-18-104, 5-5-110
Introduced: 2-2-201, 2-18-104, 5-5-110