Opinion ID: 890151
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: lr-119

Text: ¶ 4 The 62nd Montana Legislature enacted Senate Bill 268 (SB 268), which submits to the electorate the question whether certain statutory changes should be made regarding the election of justices to the Montana Supreme Court. See Laws of Montana, 2011, ch. 203. SB 268 was filed with the Secretary of State on April 18, 2011, and was to be submitted to the voters at a special election to be held concurrently with the June 5, 2012 primary election. SB 268 was to appear on the ballot as Legislative Referendum No. 119. The ballot language of LR-119 and the text of SB 268 are included as an appendix following this Opinion. ¶ 5 The Montana Supreme Court is composed of seven justices, one of whom is chief justice. Mont. Const. art. VII, § 3(1); § 3-2-101, MCA. The justices serve eight-year terms, which run from the first Monday of January following the justice's election to (but not including) the first Monday of January eight years hence. Mont. Const. art. VII, 7(2); §§ 3-2-101, -103, MCA. One or two of the seats come up for election every two years. [1] To be eligible to the office of Supreme Court justice, the person must (1) be a citizen of the United States, (2) have resided in Montana for two years immediately before taking office, and (3) have been admitted to the practice of law in Montana for at least five years prior to the date of appointment or election. Mont. Const. art. VII, § 9(1). Supreme Court justices must reside within the state. Mont. Const. art. VII, § 9(4). ¶ 6 Under current law, the justices are elected on a statewide basis. See § 3-2-101, MCA. LR-119 would change the law so that each justice is elected from one of seven districts of approximately equal population. The districts created under LR-119 follow county linesfor example, the Fifth Supreme Court district would consist of Lincoln, Sanders, Flathead, Glacier, and Toole Counties. The district numbers correspond to the justices' current seat numbers, with Chief Justice McGrath's seat being assigned to the seventh district (Missoula, Lake, and Mineral Counties). The justices would be required to reside and be registered to vote in their respective districts at the time they are elected, and electors in a given district could vote only for that district's justice. Consequently, rather than voting for each of the seven Supreme Court justices as they come up for election in two-year intervals, electors could vote for only one of the justices, who would come up for election every eight years. The chief justice would then be chosen from among the seven justices by majority vote of the justices. ¶ 7 LR-119, therefore, would effect three changes concerning the qualifications and selection of justices. First, LR-119 adds a residency and voter-registration requirement: a candidate for a seat on the Supreme Court must be a qualified elector of the district from which the candidate is elected. (Once elected, a justice is not required to reside within that district during the justice's service in office.) Second, LR-119 creates seven Supreme Court districts and requires that each justice be elected from a separate district. Only voters in a given district are eligible to vote for that district's justice. Third, LR-119 changes the method of selecting the chief justice from a statewide election to a selection by the seven justices from among their number.