Montana Historical Society

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Legislative History Guide

 

This guide provides general information on the legislature, instructions on locating legislative records housed in the Library & Archives, and guidance on how to research and compile a legislative history about a bill.

If you have specific questions about the history of a bill or law, or about anything in this guide, please contact us by submitting a research request.

The 1864 Organic Act created the Montana Territory and provided a basic government structure for the new territory, including a territorial governor and secretary, three judges appointed by the president of the United States, and a territorial legislature and non-voting representative to the U.S. House of Representatives elected by eligible voters in the territory. The act called for the legislature to meet annually for 40 days, except for the first legislature, which was granted a 60 day session. The territorial governor had the authority to decide the date and places of the first election, apportion the members of the two houses, and choose the date and place for the first legislature to meet. Thereafter, the legislature itself decided dates for future elections and legislative sessions and apportion seats.

The Territorial Assembly met 16 times from 1864-1889. The legislature became known as the State Legislative Assembly after Montana attained statehood in 1889. In 1973, a year after the Montana Constitutional Convention, the legislature officially became known as the Montana State Legislature.

The Montana State Legislature is made up of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Constitution of Montana limits the size of the Senate to no fewer than 40 and no more than 50 members and the size of the House of Representatives to no fewer than 80 and no more than 100 members. Each house is responsible for choosing its officers, creating committees, and establishing its own rules. The Montana Legislature meets for 90 days every odd numbered year, beginning the first Monday in January, or the following Wednesday if the first Monday is New Years Day.

Where to Find Montana Legislative Records

The Library & Archives is the official repository for all records created by legislative committees during legislative sessions. We hold records from the first Montana Territorial Legislative Assembly in 1864 to the present.

Please note that many of the territorial and early state records do not include House and Senate committee minutes. In addition, records for legislative sessions prior to 1972 are sparse and are not a complete representation of the activities of those sessions. The records for a given legislative special session are housed with the records for the regular session held during that same year.

We provide physical access to all legislative records held in our repository. Most of the records are not digitized, but researchers wishing to access specific records remotely should contact us for more information by submitting a research request.

The records for the Territorial Legislative Assembly, State Legislative Assembly, and State Legislature are organized by session (or year). Finding aids for each session are available on Archives West and provide the following information:

  • A brief summary of what the records contain
  • A brief history of the legislature and any specific historical information about the session
  • A longer description of the types of materials and subject matter found in that session's records, including names and date ranges of committee meetings and hearings
  • A description of how the records were organized in order facilitate better access

Our records for the Territorial Legislative Assembly are organized by session and year and housed in the State Archives. Click the links below to access finding aids for each session. Request access to these records by visiting us or submitting a research request.

 

The Montana State Legislature website features digital audio and video recordings, as well as scanned minute logs and exhibits, from 2005-present.

The Library & Archives holds audio and video recordings of State Legislature committees from 1997-2011. We digitized most of the recordings, and the digital files are available upon request. Researchers are also welcome to access the analog audio (if it is not digitized) by visiting our Reference Room.

For copies or digital files and assistance accessing legislative audio and video, please contact us by submitting a research request.

The Montana Governors Records (MC 35) contains legislative files from 1893-1935, including correspondence, bills, vetoes, governors messages, petitions, and other materials.

Our Library holds copies of publications from the State Legislature, including House and Senate journals, the Laws of Montana, and other materials. Find these items by searching our catalog or visiting our Reference Room.

Online Materials
  • The Montana State Legislature website contains comprehensive information on all bills introduced by members of the state legislature from 1997-present, including the text of various versions of bills, information on upcoming hearings on bills, minutes of legislative committee hearings on bills, and audio files of selected hearings 2005-present.
  • The State Law Library of Montana provides access to many online resources related to Montana laws, including a section on "Constitutional and Statehood Resources," which has links to original texts of the state's constitutions, both historical and current, and the proceedings of the 1971-1972 Constitutional Convention.

Compiling a Legislative History

The State Law Library of Montana provides a definition of legislative history in its Montana Legislative History Research Guide. In short, a legislative history is the chronological progress of a bill through the legislative process from its introduction to its enactment into law. The term also often refers to the collection of documents created during that process.

A legislative history for a Montana bill typically includes a the chronological history of the bill, a copy of the bill as it was originally introduced, and minutes and exhibits from House and Senate committees (if available). Legislative histories may also include other versions of bills, a copy of the law, and copies audio or video (by request, pending availability).

Access the Montana Code Annotated (MCA) on the Montana State Legislature website to find Montana statutes. Note the History reference at the bottom of each section of a statute. For example, for MCA 60-1-101, the History is:

En. Sec. 1, Ch. 197, L. 1965; R.C.M. 1947, 32-2201; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 23, L. 1979.

This means that the legislature enacted the law by Section 1, Chapter 197 of the 1965 Laws of Montana. The law was then added to the 1947 Revised Codes of Montana as Section 32-2201. It was later amended by Section 1, Chapter 23 in the 1979 Laws of Montana.

Translate the Section and Chapter numbers into a Bill Number by using the table of contents or index in the corresponding Laws of Montana publication. In the above example, The 1965 Laws of Montana converts to Senate Bill (SB) 170.

Once you have a bill number, you can find out which committees discussed the bill. The best place to find the names of committees depends on when the bill passed:

We hold records from the first Montana Territorial Legislative Assembly in 1864 to the present. Please see the Where to Find Montana Legislative Records section above for more information and for a list of collections and finding aids. Please note that many of the territorial and early state records do not include House and Senate committee minutes. In addition, records for legislative sessions prior to 1972 are sparse and are not a complete representation of the activities of those sessions.

You may also be able to find copies of committee minutes for sessions from 1977-1997 at the State Law Library of Montana and for 1999-present on the Montana State Legislature website.

Audio and video recordings for 2005-present are available on the Montana State Legislature website.

We also hold audio and video recordings of committees from 1997-2011. We digitized most of the recordings, and the digital files are available upon request.

To access the legislative records or audio/video that we hold at the Library & Archives, please contact us by submitting a research request.

The Montana Legislative History Research Guide put together by the State Law Library of Montana provides more detailed informatin on how to compile a legislative history and where to find different resources and pieces of information.

 

Montana History Compass

 

Indexes

Guides

Facts

 

Catalog

Search our catalog to find records from our entire collection, including library materials, archival and manuscript collections, government records, and photograph collections.

Search the catalog

 

Finding Aids

Search our Finding Aids to find detailed inventories of our archival and manuscript collections, government records, and photograph collections.

Search our finding aids

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