Bill > SB92

This bill aims to make membership in the State Bar of Montana voluntary for attorneys practicing law in the state. The bill provides extensive legislative findings explaining the historical context, noting that the Montana Bar Association was originally a voluntary organization in 1885, but became mandatory in 1974 through a Montana Supreme Court order. The bill argues that the State Bar does not actually perform key constitutional functions like bar admission or attorney conduct oversight, which are handled by separate entities. Citing the 2018 United States Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME, which prohibited compulsory union dues, the bill asserts that lawyers should have the first amendment right to choose whether to join and pay dues to the State Bar. Specifically, the bill makes it unlawful to require attorneys admitted to practice in Montana to join or pay dues to the State Bar as a condition of maintaining their law license. The legislation is set to take effect on July 1, 2026, and will be integrated into Title 37, Chapter 61, Part 2 of Montana's legal code, fundamentally changing the current mandatory bar membership system to a voluntary one.

Justice

https://bills.legmt.gov/#/laws/bill/2/LC0044