In a rare move, the Montana House Monday overwhelmingly killed a bill after it was approved in committee. The measure would have allowed local sheriffs to block arrests, searches, or seizures by the FBI or other federal agencies.
Billings Democrat Kathy Kelker said, even though the bill only gave local officials an option to bar federal officials from their communities, it’s a choice that most of them don’t want.
“Sheriffs are still put in the untenable position of having to choose between the oath they took to uphold the U.S. and Montana Constitutions or to attend to the requirements of this bill," Kelker said.
Republican Nancy Ballance of Hamilton sponsored the proposal. She said she just wanted to give county sheriffs a chance to protect citizens from federal agencies bent on abusing their power.
"The tools this bill offers to county sheriffs and county attorneys may never be needed, and we hope they’re not. But I urge you to make them available in case they are."
House Bill 274, which passed out of the House judiciary Committee by a one-vote margin last week, was soundly defeated by the full House. It received 61 ‘no’ votes and just 39 in favor.
