Public pushback prompts Yellowstone County to table effort to regulate signature gathering

“It was not intended to restrict signature gathering in traditional public forums like sidewalks, parks or other public spaces outside of county buildings,” attorney Steve Williams told county commissioners following the public hearing, which lasted some two hours. “That said, it's clear that portions of the proposal should be reviewed and clarified. So we believe that additional review would allow staff to consider the feedback that's been received, evaluate the policy and determine what revisions are appropriate before bringing back any proposal to the board.”

The policy was presented for roughly two minutes during a discussion meeting last Thursday, with little comment, before being sent to the consent agenda Tuesday. But following Billings Gazette reporting on the proposal, the policy quickly garnered public attention.

It would have required signature gatherers to check in with county commissioners prior to working only in designated zones like the county-owned MetraPark. Signature gatherers must also present their information in a “viewpoint-neutral manner,” the policy stated.

Further, the policy proposed prohibiting signature gathering when people are entering or leaving county buildings, including on the county courthouse’s sidewalks, where signatures have been gathered recently. 

“Right now, as written, this policy would prohibit a signature gatherer who is lawfully standing on a public sidewalk from saying 'good morning' to a passerby,” former attorney Elizabeth Halverson told commissioners.

Commissioners proposed the policy at a time when county residents are trying to gather more than 16,000 signatures to qualify an initiative to put data centers to a vote in Yellowstone County's November ballot. The deadline for those signatures is Aug. 12. That is just days after the MontanaFair, which is located on county property and which represents a significant opportunity for obtaining the needed signatures in the initiative's final days.

“I think they're fully aware that this is unconstitutional, and I think the point is timing this 10 days before the fair and affecting something immediately, even if you don't enforce it,” Billings resident Anne Ross said. “The rules followers are going to choose not to operate by gathering signatures at the fair for fear of retribution. And even if you did decide to enforce it, and people took you to court inevitably, then that's going to push it months down the road.”

Commission chair Mark Morse noted at the start of the public hearing that the policy wasn’t related to data centers, and asked commenters to reserve their comments on data centers until the end of the meeting. Many chose to criticize commissioners over what they said seemed like a violation of the right to assembly and freedom of speech.

“I'm here today to ask you a simple question: Why am I so scary?” Jesc Gallegos said. “I’m a signature gatherer, everyone. I'm collecting signatures for multiple ballot initiatives here in Billings, and it's not glamorous work. It's hot. It's exhausting, and a lot of people tell me no. But I do it because Montana has something that is really special. We have the power of citizens' initiatives. Regular people can bring issues directly to the ballot, and that only works if people are actually able to collect signatures from their neighbors.”

A representative from the American Civil Liberties Union also warned commissioners of potential legal violations with the law.

“I want to remind you all that the only time the government may exclude a speaker from a traditional public forum, which is what parks and streets are, which would be included in this policy, is when that exclusion is necessary to serve a compelling state interest, and the exclusion is narrowly drawn to achieve that interest,” lobbyist Henry Seaton said. “So the exclusions in this policy do not serve that compelling interest, and even if it did, they are not narrowly drawn to achieve such an interest.”

He called the policy as written an "invitation for the county to get sued.”

Prior to the policy being tabled by commissioners, they explained it as an expansion of those in place since 2019 and shared a letter addressed to a community member during that time. The letter said the individual should avoid members of the public who are seated inside and standing around the Department of Motor Vehicles and to not approach people who are standing in line. It also told the community member to check in with the county commissioners’ office in advance.

“I think the takeaway from this is what everybody's complaining about is actually they've gathered signatures under this existing policy for seven years, and we haven't had a problem with it,” Morse said after the public hearing concluded. “We were trying to expand it countywide, so it was clear that (on) all county property, you had to provide ingress and egress for people that wanted to do business.”

That past letter shared at the meeting only warned that community members might be asked to leave the courthouse when interacting with members of the public. The current policy described enforcement as “removal from county property or other actions authorized by law.”

The policy follows the county’s court challenge of a data center initiative as illegal. The developer for a planned data center south of Broadview, Quantica Infrastructure, has supported the county’s lawsuit in court and in statements. Some commenters questioned if the two are colluding behind the scenes.

Commissioners Mike Waters decided to use the end of the public hearing as a chance to address the public, following the commission being roundly criticized for the policy. He first stated that he is not aligned with Quantica or any other company. Waters didn't give up on the policy entirely in his comments, stating the goal was to “ensure freedom of speech for ballot initiatives” and, like Morse stated, also “provide a balance with those doing business.” 

“But I'm going to support tabling this because we want to get it right,” Waters said. “We want to include the right language. We want it to be clear. We want to ensure it is constitutional.”