Lawmakers pass bill to expand monitoring of domestic abusers

The Montana Senate on Monday unanimously endorsed a bill that could expand the use of electronic monitoring of people charged with certain domestic violence and stalking crimes.

House Bill 449, sponsored by Rep. Frank Garner, R-Kalispell, previously sailed to a 99-0 vote in the House and now is headed to Gov. Greg Gianforte's desk.

Garner, a former Kalispell police chief, has said the bill could help prevent domestic violence from turning deadly, citing the murders of 42-year-old Emily Mohler, her 3-year-old daughter and a 41-year-old friend in Olney last summer. The assailant was Mohler's estranged husband, Kameron Barge, 39, who killed himself shortly afterward.

Once signed into law, HB 449 would, in many cases, increase the likelihood that a domestic violence suspect is monitored using a GPS bracelet while out of jail and awaiting trial.

The bill would add to state law a "rebuttable presumption" that electronic monitoring should be included as a condition of pretrial release in jurisdictions where the technology is available, which include Flathead County. In other words, a judge would require monitoring by default unless the defense successfully argues against it.

"This keeps judges in ultimate control of that decision but places a burden on the offender of having to explain why they shouldn't be released on monitoring," Garner told the Senate Judiciary Committee last month.

The presumption would apply only for certain felony charges deemed the strongest predictors of future abuse or homicidal behavior, including assault or strangulation of a partner or family member, stalking and violations of protection orders.

Garner said electronic monitoring enables law enforcement to track suspects' locations and respond if they travel out of bounds under protection orders. And it can alert victims if their abusers get too close to their homes or workplaces.

Representatives of the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, the Montana County Attorneys Association and the Montana Police Protective Association also spoke in support of the bill. No one spoke against the bill in the Senate.

Reporter Chad Sokol can be reached at 758-4439 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com