Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

**** 2
69th Legislature 2025
                                                                                                                       LC
0317
   3
                                       _____________ BILL NO. _____________
                                             (Primary Sponsor)
                              INTRODUCED BY _________________________________________________
                         BY REQUEST OF THE LAW AND JUSTICE INTERIM COMMITTEE
   4
 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT GENERALLY REVISING SENTENCING LAWS FOR THEFT,
 FAILURE TO RETURN RENTED OR LEASED PERSONAL PROPERTY, ISSUING A BAD CHECK,
 DECEPTIVE PRACTICES, FORGERY, AND THEFT OF IDENTITY; REVISING THE DEFINITION OF
 "COMMON SCHEME"; RAISING THE PENALTY THRESHOLDS FOR OFFENSES INVOLVING THEFT,
 FAILURE TO RETURN RENTED OR LEASED PERSONAL PROPERTY, ISSUING A BAD CHECK,
 DECEPTIVE PRACTICES, FORGERY, AND THEFT OF IDENTITY; AMENDING SECTIONS 45-2-101, 45-6-
 301, 45-6-309, 45-6-316, 45-6-317, 45-6-325, 45-6-332, AND 45-6-345, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN
 EFFECTIVE DATE.”
  13
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
  15
          Section 1. Section 45-2-101, MCA, is amended to read:
          "45-2-101. General definitions. Unless otherwise specified in the statute, all words must be taken in
 the objective standard rather than in the subjective, and unless a different meaning plainly is required, the
 following definitions apply in this title:
          (1)      "Acts" has its usual and ordinary meaning and includes any bodily movement, any form of
 communication, and when relevant, a failure or omission to take action.
          (2)      "Administrative proceeding" means a proceeding the outcome of which is required to be based
 on a record or documentation prescribed by law or in which a law or a regulation is particularized in its
 application to an individual.
                                                                 1                                       LC 317
**** 2
69th Legislature 2025
                                                                                                                      LC
0317
   3
         (3)      "Another" means a person or persons other than the offender.
         (4)      (a) "Benefit" means gain or advantage or anything regarded by the beneficiary as gain or
 advantage, including benefit to another person or entity in whose welfare the beneficiary is interested.
         (b)      Benefit does not include an advantage promised generally to a group or class of voters as a
 consequence of public measures that a candidate engages to support or oppose.
         (5)      "Bodily injury" means physical pain, illness, or an impairment of physical condition and includes
 mental illness or impairment.
         (6)      "Child" or "children" means any individual or individuals under 18 years of age, unless a
 different age is specified.
         (7)      "Cohabit" means to live together under the representation of being married.
         (8)      "Common scheme" means a series of acts or omissions resulting in a pecuniary loss to the
 victim of at least $1,500, or $1,500 in value, motivated by a purpose to accomplish a single criminal objective or
 by a common purpose or plan that results in the repeated commission of the same offense or that affects the
 same person or the same persons or the property of the same person or persons.
         (9)      "Computer" means an electronic device that performs logical, arithmetic, and memory functions
 by the manipulation of electronic or magnetic impulses and includes all input, output, processing, storage,
 software, or communication facilities that are connected or related to that device in a system or network.
         (10)     "Computer network" means the interconnection of communication systems between computers
 or computers and remote terminals.
         (11)     "Computer program" means an instruction or statement or a series of instructions or
 statements, in a form acceptable to a computer, that in actual or modified form permits the functioning of a
 computer or computer system and causes it to perform specified functions.
         (12)     "Computer services" include but are not limited to computer time, data processing, and storage
 functions.
         (13)     "Computer software" means a set of computer programs, procedures, and associated
 documentation concerned with the operation of a computer system.
         (14)     "Computer system" means a set of related, connected, or unconnected devices, computer
 software, or other related computer equipment.
                                                          2                                             LC 317
**** 2
69th Legislature 2025
                                                                                                                             LC
0317
   3
          (15)     "Conduct" means an act or series of acts and the accompanying mental state.
          (16)     "Conviction" means a judgment of conviction and sentence entered upon a plea of guilty or
 nolo contendere or upon a verdict or finding of guilty of an offense rendered by a legally constituted jury or by a
 court of competent jurisdiction authorized to try the case without a jury.
          (17)     "Correctional institution" means a state prison, detention center, multijurisdictional detention
 center, private detention center, regional correctional facility, private correctional facility, or other institution for
 the incarceration of inmates under sentence for offenses or the custody of individuals awaiting trial or sentence
 for offenses.
          (18)     "Deception" means knowingly to:
          (a)      create or confirm in another an impression that is false and that the offender does not believe
 to be true;
          (b)      fail to correct a false impression that the offender previously has created or confirmed;
          (c)      prevent another from acquiring information pertinent to the disposition of the property involved;
          (d)      sell or otherwise transfer or encumber property without disclosing a lien, adverse claim, or
 other legal impediment to the enjoyment of the property, whether the impediment is or is not of value or is or is
 not a matter of official record; or
          (e)      promise performance that the offender does not intend to perform or knows will not be
 performed. Failure to perform, standing alone, is not evidence that the offender did not intend to perform.
          (19)     "Defamatory matter" means anything that exposes a person or a group, class, or association to
 hatred, contempt, ridicule, degradation, or disgrace in society or to injury to the person's or its business or
 occupation.
          (20)     "Deprive" means:
          (a)      to withhold property of another:
          (i)      permanently;
          (ii)     for such a period as to appropriate a portion of its value; or
          (iii)    with the purpose to restore it only upon payment of reward or other compensation; or
          (b)      to dispose of the property of another and use or deal with the property so as to make it unlikely
 that the owner will recover it.
                                                              3                                                LC 317
**** 2
69th Legislature 2025
                                                                                                                                 LC
0317
   3
           (21)        "Deviate sexual relations" means any form of sexual intercourse with an animal or dead human
 body.
           (22)        "Document" means, with respect to offenses involving the medicaid program, any application,
 claim, form, report, record, writing, or correspondence, whether in written, electronic, magnetic, microfilm, or
 other form.
           (23)        "Felony" means an offense in which the sentence imposed upon conviction is death or
 imprisonment in a state prison for a term exceeding 1 year.
           (24)        "Forcible felony" means a felony that involves the use or threat of physical force or violence
 against any individual.
           (25)        A "frisk" is a search by an external patting of a person's clothing.
           (26)        "Government" includes a branch, subdivision, or agency of the government of the state or a
 locality within it.
           (27)        "Harm" means loss, disadvantage, or injury or anything so regarded by the person affected,
 including loss, disadvantage, or injury to a person or entity in whose welfare the affected person is interested.
           (28)        A "house of prostitution" means a place where prostitution or promotion of prostitution is
 regularly carried on by one or more persons under the control, management, or supervision of another.
           (29)        "Human being" means a person who has been born and is alive.
           (30)        An "illegal article" is an article or thing that is prohibited by statute, rule, or order from being in
 the possession of a person subject to official detention.
           (31)        "Inmate" means a person who is confined in a correctional institution.
           (32)        (a) "Intoxicating substance" means a controlled substance, as defined in Title 50, chapter 32,
 and an alcoholic beverage, including but not limited to a beverage containing 1/2 of 1% or more of alcohol by
 volume.
           (b)         Intoxicating substance does not include dealcoholized wine or a beverage or liquid produced by
 the process by which beer, ale, port, or wine is produced if it contains less than 1/2 of 1% of alcohol by volume.
           (33)        An "involuntary act" means an act that is:
           (a)         a reflex or convulsion;
           (b)         a bodily movement during unconsciousness or sleep;
                                                                  4                                                LC 317
**** 2
69th Legislature 2025
                                                                                                                       LC
0317
   3
         (c)      conduct during hypnosis or resulting from hypnotic suggestion; or
         (d)      a bodily movement that otherwise is not a product of the effort or determination of the actor,
 either conscious or habitual.
         (34)     "Juror" means a person who is a member of a jury, including a grand jury, impaneled by a court
 in this state in an action or proceeding or by an officer authorized by law to impanel a jury in an action or
 proceeding. The term "juror" also includes a person who has been drawn or summoned to attend as a
 prospective juror.
         (35)     "Knowingly"--a person acts knowingly with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described
 by a statute defining an offense when the person is aware of the person's own conduct or that the circumstance
 exists. A person acts knowingly with respect to the result of conduct described by a statute defining an offense
 when the person is aware that it is highly probable that the result will be caused by the person's conduct. When
 knowledge of the existence of a particular fact is an element of an offense, knowledge is established if a person
 is aware of a high probability of its existence. Equivalent terms, such as "knowing" or "with knowledge", have
 the same meaning.
         (36)     "Medicaid" means the Montana medical assistance program provided for in Title 53, chapter 6.
         (37)     "Medicaid agency" has the meaning in 53-6-155.
         (38)     "Medicaid benefit" means the provision of anything of pecuniary value to or on behalf of a
 recipient under the medicaid program.
         (39)     (a) "Medicaid claim" means a communication, whether in oral, written, electronic, magnetic, or
 other form:
         (i)      that is used to claim specific services or items as payable or reimbursable under the medicaid
 program; or
         (ii)     that states income, expense, or other information that is or may be used to determine
 entitlement to or the rate of payment under the medicaid program.
         (b)      The term includes related documents submitted as a part of or in support of the claim.
         (40)     "Mentally disordered" means that a person suffers from a mental disease or disorder that
 renders the person incapable of appreciating the nature of the person's own conduct.
         (41)     "Mentally incapacitated" means that a person is rendered temporarily incapable of appreciating
                                                           5                                              LC 317
**** 2
69th Legislature 2025
                                                                                                                         LC
0317
   3
 or controlling the person's own conduct as a result of the influence of an intoxicating substance.
         (42)     "Misdemeanor" means an offense for which the sentence imposed upon conviction is
 imprisonment in the county jail for a term or a fine, or both, or for which the sentence imposed is imprisonment
 in a state prison for a term of 1 year or less.
         (43)     "Negligently"--a person acts negligently with respect to a result or to a circumstance described
 by a statute defining an offense when the person consciously disregards a risk that the result will occur or that
 the circumstance exists or when the person disregards a risk of which the person should be aware that the
 result will occur or that the circumstance exists. The risk must be of a nature and degree that to disregard it
 involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the actor's
 situation. "Gross deviation" means a deviation that is considerably greater than lack of ordinary care. Relevant
 terms, such as "negligent" and "with negligence", have the same meaning.
         (44)     "Nolo contendere" means a plea in which the defendant does not contest the charge or
 charges against the defendant and neither admits nor denies the charge or charges.
         (45)     "Obtain" means:
         (a)      in relation to property, to bring about a transfer of interest or possession, whether to the
 offender or to another; and
         (b)      in relation to labor or services, to secure the performance of the labor or service.
         (46)     "Obtains or exerts control" includes but is not limited to the taking, the carrying away, or the
 sale, conveyance, or transfer of title to, interest in, or possession of property.
         (47)     "Occupied structure" means any building, vehicle, or other place suitable for human occupancy
 or night lodging of persons or for carrying on business, whether or not a person is actually present, including
 any outbuilding that is immediately adjacent to or in close proximity to an occupied structure and that is
 habitually used for personal use or employment. Each unit of a building consisting of two or more units
 separately secured or occupied is a separate occupied structure.
         (48)     "Offender" means a person who has been or is liable to be arrested, charged, convicted, or
 punished for a public offense.
         (49)     "Offense" means a crime for which a sentence of death or of imprisonment or a fine is
 authorized. Offenses are classified as felonies or misdemeanors.
                                                             6                                            LC 317
**** 2
69th Legislature 2025
                                                                                                                        LC
0317
   3
          (50)     (a) "Official detention" means imprisonment resulting from a conviction for an offense,
 confinement for an offense, confinement of a person charged with an offense, detention by a peace officer
 pursuant to arrest, detention for extradition or deportation, or lawful detention for the purpose of the protection
 of the welfare of the person detained or for the protection of society.
          (b)      Official detention does not include supervision of probation or parole, constraint incidental to
 release on bail, or an unlawful arrest unless the person arrested employed physical force, a threat of physical
 force, or a weapon to escape.
          (51)     "Official proceeding" means a proceeding heard or that may be heard before a legislative, a
 judicial, an administrative, or another governmental agency or official authorized to take evidence under oath,
 including any referee, hearings examiner, commissioner, notary, or other person taking testimony or deposition
 in connection with the proceeding.
          (52)     "Other state" means a state or territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the
 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
          (53)     "Owner" means a person other than the offender who has possession of or other interest in the
 property involved, even though the interest or possession is unlawful, and without whose consent the offender
 has no authority to exert control over the property.
          (54)     "Party official" means a person who holds an elective or appointive post in a political party in
 the United States by virtue of which the person directs or conducts or participates in directing or conducting
 party affairs at any level of responsibility.
          (55)     "Peace officer" means a person w