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69th Legislature 2025 HB 460.1
- 1 - Authorized Print Version – HB 460
1 HOUSE BILL NO. 460
2 INTRODUCED BY T. MILLETT, T. SHARP, E. BYRNE, T. MANZELLA, S. GIST, C. HINKLE, A. REGIER, J.
3 SCHILLINGER, L. DEMING, G. KMETZ, B. MITCHELL, J. HINKLE
4
5 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT SUBMITTING TO THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF MONTANA AN
6 AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE II, SECTION 20, OF THE MONTANA CONSTITUTION TO PROVIDE A
7 PROCESS IN WHICH A GRAND JURY MAY BE CALLED BY THE ELECTORS OF ANY COUNTY IN
8 MONTANA; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.”
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10 WHEREAS, in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln's quote: “We the people are the rightful masters of both
11 Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the
12 Constitution”; and
13 WHEREAS, the founding fathers deemed the grand jury and its power of the people to be so important
14 that they carried the grand jury process to the United States Constitution through the Fifth Amendment in the
15 Bill of Rights; and
16 WHEREAS, the grand jury by petition is the oldest and closest to the original intent of the founding
17 fathers and was chiseled into the United States Constitution through the Bill of Rights as a restraining
18 mechanism for possible abuse by institutional power; and
19 WHEREAS, the citizens' grand jury is the link in the chain that resists tyranny, because the citizens'
20 grand jury’s purpose was never to serve as a lapdog of power but as a watchdog for the people. The grand jury
21 meets and deliberates in private to protect the jurors and the accused; and
22 WHEREAS, a Montana grand jury, consisting of 11 people, only investigates possible criminal activity
23 and hands down an indictment if probable cause exists. They do not convict anyone; and
24 WHEREAS, the citizens of Montana have the fundamental right to a grand jury as provided in Article II,
25 section 20, of the Montana Constitution; and
26 WHEREAS, in United States. v Williams, 504 U.S. 36 (1992), the United States Supreme Court
27 discussed that the grand jury system is not in the body of the United States Constitution but is in the Fifth
28 Amendment of the Bill of Rights, and it is like a fourth branch of government; and 2026
69th Legislature 2025 HB 460.1
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1 WHEREAS, the grand jury is not constitutionally assigned to any of the other three branches of
2 government and thus does not belong to any branch of government and is a constitutional fixture itself. It is not
3 to be controlled or abused by any other branch of government, nor is it under the auspice, direction, or control
4 of our Judicial Branch; and
5 WHEREAS, the grand jury is a protector of citizens against arbitrary and oppressive government
6 actions; and
7 WHEREAS, the Montana grand jury is under the control of our Judicial Branch, because only a district
8 court judge can authorize the impaneling of a grand jury, effectively withholding it from "we the people"; and
9 WHEREAS, the grand jury is a body of truth and power inferior to none but the Legislature itself; and
10 WHEREAS, we the people are guaranteed the constitutional right to a grand jury; and
11 WHEREAS, about half of the states require that a grand jury be used before an individual can be
12 charged with a crime; and
13 WHEREAS, six states have a citizens' grand jury by petition: New Mexico, North Dakota, Nevada,
14 Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas.
15
16 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
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18 Article II, section 20, of The Constitution of the State of Montana is amended to read:
19 "Section 20. (1) Criminal offenses within the jurisdiction of any court
20 inferior to the district court shall be prosecuted by complaint. All criminal actions in district court, except those
21 on appeal, shall be prosecuted either by information, after examination and commitment by a magistrate or
22 after leave granted by the court, or by indictment without such examination, commitment or leave.
23 (2) (a) A grand jury shall consist of eleven persons, of whom eight must concur to find an
24 indictment. A grand jury shall be drawn and summoned only at the discretion and order of the district judge.
25 (b) Whenever 100 plus one-half of one percent of the registered electors of a county have signed a
26 petition to summon a grand jury and have submitted the petition signatures to the county election administrator,
27 a grand jury shall be summoned and impaneled by the judge of the district court for the county receiving the
28 petition. 2026
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1 (3) A grand jury so summoned and impaneled shall first consider any cause advanced by those
2 who have brought and signed the petition, but the grand jury is the sole judge of its own duration and the
3 breadth and depth of its own inquiry.
4 (4) An indictment brought by a grand jury shall be prosecuted by the county attorney for the county
5 in which an alleged offense occurred, regardless of prosecutorial discretion. A county attorney who fails to
6 prosecute within 90 days after an indictment is handed down by the grand jury may be indicted for obstruction
7 of justice and official misconduct.
8 (5) If a grand jury summoned under this section is unable to obtain the prosecution of an
9 indictment by the county attorney of the county where the alleged offense occurred, the grand jury may compel
10 prosecutorial assistance from the attorney general, or the grand jury may retain a private prosecutor whose
11 fees shall be a lawful claim against the county where the alleged offense occurred.
12 (6) A grand jury summoned under this section may, in addition to indictments, seek court orders to
13 remedy situations under its investigation and may hire counsel independent of the county attorney’s office."
14
15 NEW SECTION. Section 2. Because [section 1] is a legislative proposal
16 to amend the constitution, Article XIV, section 8, of the Montana constitution requires an affirmative roll call vote
17 of two-thirds of all the members of the legislature, whether one or more bodies, for passage.
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19 NEW SECTION. Section 3. [This act] shall be submitted to the qualified
20 electors of Montana at the general election to be held in November 2026 by printing on the ballot the full title of
21 [this act] and the following:
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25 NEW SECTION. Section 4. [This act] is effective on approval by the electorate.
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