Citizen-Initiated Grand Jury Bill Dies in House 

HELENA — The Montana House of Representatives on Tuesday killed a bill setting in motion the process for creating citizen-initiated grand juries, shooting down a policy popular among right-wing circles that has gained traction, yet met repeated defeats, in Helena in recent years. 

House Bill 460, sponsored by Rep. Tom Millett, R-Marion, would put a question on the 2026 general election ballot asking voters to amend the state constitution to create citizen-initiated grand juries. These grand juries allow citizens, by petition, to compel a county attorney to call a jury to investigate potential criminal misconduct. Grand juries, which can only be impaneled by a district judge in Montana, are tasked with determining whether criminal charges should be brought against an individual. 

Millett’s bill sought to put the question of citizen-initiated grand juries in front of voters. 

The bill outlined the following structure for citizen-initiated grand juries. If the greater of 100 or 5% of the registered electors of a county signed a petition, a district court judge would be required to summon an 11-person grand jury to determine if charges should be brought against an individual for an alleged crime. If the grand jury handed down an indictment, per the bill, the county attorney would be forced to prosecute those charges. If the county attorney failed to prosecute the charges, the citizen grand jury would be able to enlist the help of the attorney general. In addition to indictments, the jury could seek court orders to remedy situations under its investigation. 

Testifying on the House floor, Millett said, “A citizen’s grand jury is an important, yet often overlooked, mechanism of justice that has the potential to strengthen our institutions of government and promote transparency within our legal system.”

In Montana, citizen-initiated grand juries have long been popular among right-wing groups. 

A Kalispell-based white supremacist in 2010 vowed to convene a citizens’ grand jury to indict members of the Montana Human Rights Network, a nonprofit group he characterized as a “Jewish criminal organization” and an “enemy of the state of Montana.”

Also in 2010, a Stevensville man brought a proposed ballot measure creating citizen-initiated grand juries, however failed to collect the necessary number of signatures to get the proposal on the ballot. 

Last session, Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, R-Great Falls, brought two bills seeking to bring citizen-initiated grand juries to Montana. One proposal sought a ballot initiative to add citizen grand juries to the state constitution, while the other amended statute directly. Both bills failed to make it out of committee. 

Sheldon-Galloway was asked to carry both bills by the Montana State Council on Judicial Accountability, a non-governmental organization that seeks to “maximize direct citizen oversight of Montana’s judiciary and other government agencies,” the Montana Free Press reported at the time. 

The Montana State Council on Judicial Accountability is run by Bart Crabtree, who established the organization after losing a state Supreme Court appeal of an embezzlement conviction. Crabtree worked with Sheldon-Galloway to draft the 2023 bills. 

Crabtree testified in favor of Millett’s bill in a February committee hearing, saying, “Our government and the legal system have demonized [the citizen-initiated grand jury] and hijacked it.”  

In committee, Crabtree, alongside around two dozen private citizens and Montana Public Service Commissioner Randy Pinocci, spoke in favor of the bill, citing their constitutional rights and abuse by the state’s courts. 

Speaking against the bill on behalf of the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association and Montana County Attorneys Association, Nanette Gilbertson said the juries “would allow for this process to be driven by special interests, a small, vocal minority, political motivations, unbridled passion or personal vendettas.” 

On the House floor on Tuesday, Rep. Ed Stafman, D-Bozeman, warned of the long history of right-wing groups employing citizen-initated grand juries for political ends. Stafman cited the use of such juries to investigate former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and U.S. officials’ complicity in the September 11 attacks. 

Citizen-initated grand juries, Stafman said, have “mostly been used to investigate government officials based on conspiracy theories or vendettas.”

The bill died on second reading after 18 Republicans joined all Democrats to vote it down. 

Millet denied allegations that juries would be used as “a mob or a witch hunt,” calling opposition to the bill “a slap in the face to everyone in Montana.”

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