The Montana Office of Public Defender is asking lawmakers to allow it to collect fees from people who are in jail or prison. A bill to do that was introduced Friday, and drew a rebuke by one of the office’s own attorneys. The change proposed by OPD would reverse 2015 legislation that suspends payments by people for their public attorney until after they are released from prison or jail.

Native Americans who have been incarcerated in Montana need more help finding housing and re-entering their communities. That’s the premise of a bill introduced in the Montana Senate Friday.

Wildfire training sessions for firefighters in Montana are being called off because of the government shutdown. That has state officials worried about whether they’ll be prepared for next fire season. Michael DeGrosky has been scheduled for months to teach a wildfire training course in Missoula next week.

Hundreds of Montanans are expected to gather under the State Capitol rotunda in Helena on Friday to rally in support of public lands. “Public lands, really for a lot of people, I think, define what it means to be a Montanan," says Kayje Booker of the Montana Wilderness Association. "And our outdoor way of life is the reason a lot of us live here in Montana.”

As the partial federal government shutdown continues, Montana's U.S. Senators are speaking out about it, and the border wall that's at the heart of the shutdown.

Democrats announced their plan for the future of Montana’s Medicaid expansion program Thursday. It’s one of two different visions competing for support in the Capitol. The Keep Montana Healthy Act is Democrat’s offer to extend Medicaid expansion past its expiration date in June.

Roughly 70 people gathered in Lame Deer Wednesday on what would’ve been Henny Scott’s 15th birthday. Scott’s body was found late last month just outside her community on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in southeastern Montana. She is one of many indigenous women and girls who have gone missing across North America in recent years.

Montana lawmakers are considering a change to when drivers licenses can be suspended. Critics of current law say taking away some people’s ability to drive criminalizes poverty. The bill draft would take away the ability of a judge to suspend someone’s license if they fail to pay court fines, costs or restitution.

2018 was a good year for veterans health care in Montana, but the Veterans Administration needs to do a better job connecting vets in crisis to help to bring their persistently high suicide rate down. Montana has averaged more than one veteran suicide per week over the last five years. That assessment is from Dr. Kathy Berger, CEO of the Montana Veterans Health Administration, who gave the agency’s annual “state of the VA” presentation to a couple of dozen people in Helena Tuesday night. She

The Montana Democratic Party alleges Secretary of State Corey Stapleton broke campaign finance law early this month when announcing his plans to run for governor. The Democrats filed their complaint with the state’s Commissioner of Political Practices earlier this week. It submits as evidence a press release sent from the Secretary of State’s Office on January 2, announcing Stapleton’s plans to run for governor in 2020.