‘A bill of life and death’: Legislature passes Hanna’s Act

A bill to create a missing persons specialist within the Department of Justice to help facilitate timely searches when people disappear passed the Legislature on Tuesday and is heading to Gov. Steve Bullock, who is expected to sign it.

House Bill 21, known as Hanna’s Act, has taken a winding road to becoming law. The legislation is named for Hanna Harris, a woman who was missing for several days before being found murdered on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in 2013. It was carried by Rep. Rae Peppers, a Democrat from Lame Deer.