25 January 2025 :

January 24, 2025 - MONTANA. Death penalty bill moves forward in Legislature
Could the death penalty make a comeback in Montana? It’s possible after today when House Bill 205 took a step forward. It was a close vote in a committee meeting, with 11 in favor and 9 opposed. With this, the bill will head to a floor debate.
The bill would allow the state to resume administering the death penalty. The bill aims to modify the state's lethal injection procedure by removing the requirement for an "ultra-fast-acting barbiturate," which has caused issues since a 2015 court ruling.
That ruling blocked the state from using pentobarbital, a drug it planned to use, as it didn't meet the "ultra-fast-acting" criteria. Due to challenges obtaining suitable drugs, HB 205 proposes using an intravenous injection of substances in a lethal quantity sufficient to cause death. Similar bills were considered in 2021 and 2023 but failed to pass both times.
“But to get into the specifics of how this is micromanaging a process,” said State Rep. Steven Kelly (R) Kalispell. “This smack of government inefficiency, frankly, so I will vote for this bill.”
Opponents said there’s no guarantee it won’t lead to cruel and unusual punishment. Other concerns included the cost.
“We know that death row cases cost a lot of money to our people. A lot,” said State Rep. Alanah Griffith (D) Big Sky. “And so, what I’m thinking about is does this make sense to our Montana voters? In my mind it doesn’t.”
The last execution in the state was in 2006. There are currently 2 inmates on death row in Montana.

https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/death-penalty-bill-moves-forward-in-legislature