- 2025
69th Legislature 2025 HB0117.4
- 1 - Authorized Print Version – HB 117
1 HOUSE BILL NO. 117
2 INTRODUCED BY A. REGIER
3 BY REQUEST OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE OVERSIGHT COUNCIL
4
5 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT ESTABLISHING CRIMINAL JUSTICE DATA WAREHOUSE
6 PROJECT PRIORITIES FOR THE 2025-2026 INTERIM; PROVIDING DEFINITIONS; PROVIDING
7 APPROPRIATIONS; AMENDING SECTION 44-7-126, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE
8 DATE.”
9
10 WHEREAS, there is a criminal justice data warehouse housed in the Board of Crime Control; and
11 WHEREAS, the Board of Crime Control shall consult with the Criminal Justice Oversight Council to
12 establish and maintain the criminal justice data warehouse; and
13 WHEREAS, the Criminal Justice Oversight Council provides direction and recommendations to the
14 Board of Crime Control on data collection project priorities for the criminal justice data warehouse.
15
16 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
17
18 NEW SECTION. Section 1. (1) In preparation for the 2027
19 legislative session, the board shall prioritize the following projects:
20 (a) create a unique identifier to link data from separate state and local criminal justice agencies
21 and the judicial branch in a manner that is efficient and protects the confidentiality requirements for any
22 personally identifiable information;
23 (b) consult with the council to determine research priorities to answer questions about the criminal
24 justice system, prioritize data collection, and develop data warehouse governance policies;
25 (c) consult with the council to identify and expand on the data elements that the board shall collect
26 to achieve the purposes of 44-7-126;
27 (d) acquire a software application to assist with mastering records received in the criminal justice
28 data warehouse from disparate data systems across the state criminal justice system; - 2025
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1 (e) acquire a software application to assist in the cataloging of data fields and components in
2 records received in the criminal justice data warehouse from disparate data systems across the state criminal
3 justice system;
4 (f) identify willing local stakeholders to expand beyond the pilot project to deposit existing local
5 criminal justice data in the criminal justice data warehouse, identify technology needs, and document data
6 processes;
7 (g) maintain a list of the current vendors used by state and local criminal justice agencies and the
8 judicial branch;
9 (h) identify and apply for federal funds that will help the board and the council sustain work on the
10 criminal justice data warehouse;
11 (i) document data processes that are used to deposit data in the criminal justice data warehouse;
12 (j) identify methods to share any state savings that may result from improved data collection and
13 integration with local governments; and
14 (k) identify information from other state agencies, including the department of public health and
15 human services, or from tribal governments or the federal government that may be included in the criminal
16 justice data warehouse or that may be necessary to answer criminal justice research questions posted by the
17 council.
18 (2) The board shall:
19 (a) report to the council and the law and justice interim committee each regularly scheduled
20 meeting between [the effective date of this act] and September 15, 2026, and to other legislative interim
21 committees or administrative committees as requested; and
22 (b) by September 15, 2026, submit to the council, the law and justice interim committee, the
23 legislative finance committee, and the governor's office of budget and program planning a report that includes:
24 (i) a summary of the work of the board since its last report to the council, the law and justice
25 interim committee, the legislative finance committee, and the governor's office of budget and program planning
26 to create the criminal justice data warehouse;
27 (ii) recommendations for specific next steps to further implement the criminal justice data
28 warehouse and the associated costs and technology needs to accomplish those steps; - 2025
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1 (iii) a summary of data sharing or integration projects the board has completed; and
2 (iv) a list of policy and funding priorities identified for the 2027 legislative session.
3 (3) As used in this section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions
4 apply:
5 (a) "Board" means the board of crime control established in 2-15-2008.
6 (b) "Council" means the criminal justice oversight council established in 53-1-216.
7
8ECTION 2. SECTION 44-7-126,MCA, IS AMENDED TO READ:
9 "44-7-126. (1) (a) There is a criminal justice data
10 warehouse housed in the board of crime control. The purpose of the criminal justice data warehouse is to
11 receive, store, secure, and maintain data and information from contributing entities to facilitate analysis to assist
12 state and local officials to make data-informed decisions about the criminal justice system.
13 (b) To fulfill this purpose, the legislature intends that the criminal justice data warehouse provide a
14 complete and integrated criminal justice database that includes information that will allow, among other topics,
15 the analysis of:
16 (i) the complete criminal history of all convictions and offenses committed by each offender
17 convicted in district court in the state;
18 (ii) the date and term of each sentence and whether an offender was in custody or on probation at
19 the time of the offense;
20 (iii) the length of time between a prior conviction and a successive crime for which an offender is
21 convicted and sentenced;
22 (iv) the length of time between release from custody, probation, or parole to an arrest for a new
23 offense;
24 (v) programming an offender received while in custody of the department of corrections and which
25 entity provided the programming;
26 (vi) for offenders who committed offenses that involved a dangerous drug as defined in 50-32-101,
27 which dangerous drug was involved in the offense; and
28 (vii) whether an offender convicted of a crime in district court was on pretrial release at the time of - 2025
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1 the successive offense.
2 (2) (a) An agency and the court administrator shall contribute data and information to the criminal
3 justice data warehouse on request by the board. A local government entity, a nongovernment entity, a tribal
4 government, or a federal government entity may submit data and information to the criminal justice data
5 warehouse.
6 (b) A contributing entity retains ownership of the data it contributes to the criminal justice data
7 warehouse.
8 (3) As the administering agency of the criminal justice data warehouse, the board shall:
9 (a) adopt a memorandum of understanding with the department of administration for the provision
10 of any technical assistance or services required to establish and maintain the criminal justice data warehouse;
11 (b) work in conjunction with the department of administration to assure the confidentiality of all
12 records and data collected in the criminal justice data warehouse and to assure compliance with the applicable
13 state and federal laws governing the privacy of records, data, and personally identifiable information;
14 (c) consult and collaborate with the council to prioritize data to request from contributing entities,
15 data requests, and research using data from the criminal justice data warehouse;
16 (d) (i) identify and seek federal grant money that may be used for the purposes of establishing and
17 maintaining the criminal justice data warehouse and achieving priorities established in law;
18 (ii) prioritize distribution of funds received pursuant to subsection (3)(d)(i) to contributing entities;
19 (e) adopt a memorandum of understanding with each contributing entity. The memorandum of
20 understanding must describe the data and information being submitted and the schedule on which the data will
21 be submitted and identify the confidentiality of the information and any conditions or restrictions on the use of
22 the data or information; and
23 (f) grant the legislative fiscal analyst and the legislative services division director direct access to
24 the criminal justice data warehouse in a manner that complies with the regulations of the respective federal
25 programs.
26 (4) The board may:
27 (a) require an entity that contributes data or information to deliver the data or information in a
28 certain format and on schedules established for the criminal justice data warehouse; - 2025
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1 (b) collaborate with the council and contributing entities to establish policies to address the
2 creation of reports generated through the query of records and data in the criminal justice data warehouse. A
3 nongovernment entity may only collaborate with respect to the data or information contributed by that
4 nongovernment entity; and
5 (c) adopt a standard memorandum of understanding that state and local criminal justice entities
6 and the courts may use to govern data-sharing agreements."
7
8 NEW SECTION. Section 3. (1) There is appropriated $480,000 from the general
9 fund to the department of justice to the credit of the board of crime control DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
10 for the biennium beginning July 1, 2025, for the purposes of paying for the acquirement of software
11 applications outlined in [section 1]. ANY UNSPENT FUNDS MUST BE USED FOR
12.
13 (2) (a) There is appropriated $504,243 from the general fund to the department of justice to the
14 credit of the board of crime control DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, for the biennium beginning July 1,
15 2025.
16 (b) The appropriation in subsection (2)(a) is intended to supplement base funding to the board of
17 crime control for the implementation of the criminal justice data warehouse to fund the positions of one full-time
18 equivalent position of a project manager and one full-time equivalent position of a business or data analyst.
19 (c) The legislature intends that the appropriation in subsection (2)(a) be considered part of the
20 ongoing base for the next legislative session.
21 (3) (a) There is appropriated $500,000 from the general fund to the judiciary to the credit of the
22 court administrator BOARD OF CRIME CONTROL, WITH ALL UNUSED FUNDS REVERTING TO THE BOARD OF CRIME
23, DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE for the biennium beginning July 1, 2025, for the purposes
24 of contributing data and information to the criminal justice data
25 warehouse as provided in 44-7-126. ANY UNSPENT GRANT FUNDS MUST BE RETURNED BY THE JUDICIARY TO THE
26 CRIME CONTROL FOR WORK ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE DATA WAREHOUSE PRIOR TO THE END OF THE
27.
28 (b) The legislature intends that this is a one-time-only appropriation. - 2025
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1
2 NEW SECTION. Section 4. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.
3 - END -