The Montana House voted 68-31 Tuesday to prohibit local initiatives to set law enforcement priorities, an act that would overturn Missoula County's 2006 voter-approved measure to make marijuana enforcement the county's lowest priority.

The bill faces a final House vote before heading to the Senate.

House Bill 391, by Rep. Tom Berry, R-Roundup, also would prevent other local initiatives elsewhere from setting law enforcement priorities.

Berry said he introduced the bill at the request of Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg, with whom he served on a group. Van Valkenburg testified before a legislative committee that he has tried to make the initiative work but feels torn between the wishes of Missoula County residents and his obligation to enforce state laws.

His concern is having a hodgepodge of locally enacted initiatives throughout the state to set local their law enforcement agencies' priorities, Berry said.

"Next thing you know, it ends up chaos," he said.

County attorneys and law enforcement officials don't know which state laws to enforce, Berry said.

"State law is state law," he said. "If you don't like state law, come here and change it."

Rep. Dick Barrett, D-Missoula, opposed the bill. He said there's nothing wrong with local citizens deciding on what the most and least important priorities are for their local authorities.

"There's nothing wrong with the citizenry of the local area deciding what is most important and what is least important in terms of what their local law enforcement agencies do," he said. "What people of Missoula decided was there were other things that were more important to them. Maybe that's enforcing DUI laws, or dealing with domestic abuse or dealing with other kinds of crimes."

Rep. Steve Lavin, R-Kalispell, opposed this bill.

"This is an attempt by local people to go around the law," the Highway Patrol officer said.

He said there should be consistent laws statewide both for citizens to observe and police and sheriff's departments to enforce.

HB391 is one of two bills targeted at undoing or repealing actions taken by Missoula County voters or the Missoula City Council.

The other is HB516, by Rep. Kristin Hansen, R-Havre, which prohibits local governments from enacting ordinances that say it's illegal to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation and gender, as the cities of Missoula did through an ordinance and Bozeman did through a policy.

(Source)