House rejects making state Bar membership voluntary

Calling it a battle over constitutional freedoms of choice and association, Rep. Tom Millett, R-Marion, urged his colleagues in the House to pass Senate Bill 92, which would make membership with the State Bar of Montana voluntary for lawyers. 

“Now you may have heard or think this is an attack on the Bar, but that is not true,” Millett said, telling the House that the bill would still allow for oversight of the profession and was only meant to return constitutional rights to lawyers.

House lawmakers soundly opposed the bill, 43-57. 

Rep. Brian Close, D-Bozeman, a lawyer, said the bill had no proponents speak during the hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. The only Republican attorney on the committee opposed the bill, he added. 

“There were not a bunch of lawyers lined up in the hallway crying, ‘Free us from our shackles,’” Close said. “So the persons most affected by the current bar structure are fine with it.”

The Montana State Supreme Court ordered the creation of the State Bar in 1974, making membership to the Bar a condition to practice law in Montana.

Sen. John Fuller, R-Kalispell, introduced SB 92 as a “freedom bill.” His main issue, he said, was that the state Bar collects dues from members, and takes stances on some political issues, including lobbying the Legislature. 

If a member has an issue with a State Bar position, they can get their proportion of funds used in the effort refunded, which last session amounted to $7.61.

Despite this, Fuller said he still took issue with the requirement to associate with members of the state Bar.

Alanah Griffith, D-Gallatin Gateway, an attorney and former treasurer for the state Bar, said during the floor debate she was concerned the bill didn’t contain a clear substitute mechanism for how attorneys who opt out of the State Bar would complete their licensing and continuing-education requirements for maintaining their status.

Other opponents to the bill in the House pointed out that the Montana Constitution clearly states the state Supreme Court may make rules governing admission to the Bar, and legislative action would be overreach. 

Millett, who is not an attorney, pushed back on that notion by indicating there was no legal review note from legislative staff attached to the bill. 

Fuller had previously objected to the state Bar for disparaging remarks and name-calling by a Montana lawyer during a panel hosted by the organization as part of a continuing legal education seminar last year.