Governor's Rules for Montana Home Guard

We, the undersigned voting residents of Montana wish to have the following rules apply to the Home Guard in pursuance to MCA 10-1-702:

Purpose. The purpose of this part is to establish the Montana Home Guard as a volunteer community service apparatus in Montana to fill the gap between community service organizations, such as a neighborhood watch program and the Montana National Guard, and to provide the state and its local communities with the ability to call upon trained and organized volunteers when necessary resources are otherwise unavailable.

1. Home Guard -- organization and composition -- company identification.
(a) The Home Guard may be organized, maintained, and disbanded, as provided for in this rule when additional defense or emergency response forces are needed in this state. The Home Guard must be composed of volunteers who include company captains, officers selected by the company captains, and any able-bodied citizen of this state who volunteers to serve in it.
(b) The basic unit of the Home Guard is a company, which may be organized into platoons and squads.
(c) Each Home Guard company may adopt a company flag, company creed, company colors, and other designations or insignia suitable for company identity and tradition. The company shall agree on a uniform to distinguish its members. A uniformly worn special badge with a company insignia or readily available clothing item, such as a cap, shirt, or other item, is sufficient to constitute a uniform.
(d) A Home Guard company may be established as provided in 10-1-701 and may be formed as any of the following types of units, including but not limited to an infantry company, medical company, transportation company, heavy equipment company, construction company, forestry company, police company, environmental company, signal company, scout company, cavalry company, supply company, specialty company, or general service company. A mixed company may be formed of specialized platoons or squads of the types listed in this subsection.
2. Company Captain responsibilities -- commissioning and recruiting members -- charter.
(a) A Home Guard company must be commanded by a Captain commissioned by the Governor. The company Captain is responsible for selecting and commissioning the company's officers and for recruiting, training, mustering, equipping, assigning, and promoting company members. The company captain may dismiss or demote company members or administer other lesser disciplinary measures.
(b) Each company member is responsible to the company Captain, and each company Captain is responsible to the Governor through a chain of command established by the Governor pursuant to rules adopted under 10-1-702.
(c) With the advice of the company officers, the company captain shall prepare and execute a company charter to specify the mission, policies, equipment, and procedures for the company. The charter must be approved by the governor to be valid.

3. How Home Guard Companies may be established.
(a) A Home Guard company may be established in any of the following ways:
(1) the Governor may appoint a Home Guard Captain and task that Captain to recruit, train, equip, and muster a Home Guard company;
(2) any citizen of good repute may form a company and petition the Governor to appoint the citizen the company's captain and to accept the company into the Home Guard; or
(3) any group of citizens may form a company, select a company Captain, and petition the Governor to commission the Captain and accept the company as part of the Home Guard.
(b) To be officially recognized as a Home Guard company, the company must be certified by the Governor pursuant to rule 4.

4. Company Certification and Decertification.
(a) The Home Guard must be organized, armed, equipped, maintained, disciplined, governed, administered, and trained under rules prescribed by the governor in accordance with the provisions of this part. The rules may not be so onerous that they preclude Home Guard companies to be effectively organized, trained, and employed pursuant to this part.
(b) The governor shall, within 30 days of acceptance of a Company into the Home Guard, issue to the Company a certificate of acceptance that entitles the company to all of the privileges, traditions, and responsibilities of a Home Guard company for as long as that certificate of acceptance is valid. The first and second certificate of acceptance is valid and in effect for 1 year from date of issuance. The third certificate of acceptance is valid indefinitely, unless revoked by the Governor for cause or unless the certificate is voluntarily abandoned or returned to the governor by a disused or disabled company.

5. Oaths -- conditions of service.
(a) Each member of a Home Guard company shall, as a condition of acceptance into a Home Guard company, swear an oath as provided for in this section and must be informed upon the member's recruitment that service in the Home Guard is at the member's own risk and without compensation.
(b) Each Home Guard officer shall take and subscribe to the following oath of office before assuming office:
"I, ...., do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the state of Montana and the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the Governor of the state of Montana; that I make this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of .... in the .... upon which I am about to enter, so help me God."
(c) Each non-commissioned person who joins the Home Guard shall take and subscribe to the following oath of enlistment:
"I hereby acknowledge to have voluntarily joined the Montana Home Guard on this (date) day of (year) in the (county) of the state of Montana. And I do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the state of Montana, and that I will serve it honestly and faithfully against all its enemies, and that I will obey the orders of the Governor of the state of Montana and the officers appointed over me."
(d) A company Captain or any commissioned officer of the Home Guard may administer this oath.

6. Officer Resignations -- when commissions must be vacated.
(a) An officer of the Home Guard may resign the officer's commission at any time.
(b) A commission must be vacated when an officer has been dismissed by the company Captain for cause.
(c) A company captain's commission must be vacated if the company captain is dismissed by the governor for cause.
(d) A commission may be vacated for reasons including but not limited to:
(1) failure to maintain the officer's initial qualifications for recognition;
(2) absence from duty without leave for more than 6 months; or
(3) a felony conviction.

7. Activation and Deployment -- failure to respond -- restrictions.
(a) A Home Guard company may be activated and assigned to duty by order of the Governor or upon the request of a county Sheriff if the requested activation is approved and ordered by the Governor within 48 hours of the request. The Governor or the county Sheriff shall provide written documentation of the activation order to the company.
(b) A Home Guard company may volunteer service to the county Sheriff.
(c) If a Home Guard company fails to respond to a call for activation at a minimum of half strength within 8 hours of the Governor's call, the Home Guard company may be decertified by the Governor and its Captain dismissed. If a Home Guard member fails to respond to a call for activation, for cause or otherwise, the member may be dismissed from the company by the company Captain.
(d) A Home Guard company or company members will not be deployed or assigned outside of Montana's borders. A Home Guard company or company members may serve in support of federal agencies but may not be compelled to serve under the direction of any federal agency, employee, or officer.
(e) The Governor may activate any company of the Home Guard for a period not to exceed 10 consecutive days. The governor may not activate a company for more than 30 days in any calendar year without the prior consent of the legislature. In consenting to activation for more than 30 days in a calendar year, the legislature shall identify the specific company or companies for which it is authorizing active service and the date by which the active service must be terminated.

8. Training -- use of armories and equipment.
(a) Each Home Guard Captain is responsible for ensuring that the personnel of the captain's company are trained sufficiently to fulfill the company's mission according to the company's charter. The National Guard may provide training for units and personnel of the Home Guard to the extent that the resources of the National Guard permit the training.
(b) The Governor may make available to the Home Guard the facilities of state armories and their equipment and any other state land and property that may be available. The Governor may requisition from the federal government, for the use of the Home Guard, arms, ammunition, clothing, equipment, and other items in accordance with federal law and regulations to the extent that the Governor may do so without obligating the Home Guard to federal service.
(c) The governing body of a county, municipality, or school district may make available to the Home Guard any premises, facilities, equipment, or other property belonging to or under the control of the county, municipality, or school district.

9. Volunteer status -- workers' compensation.
(a) A member of the Home Guard, whether on active duty or otherwise, serves strictly as an unpaid volunteer and is not entitled to compensation, except as provided in 10-1-503.
(b) When a Home Guard company is activated, the state if the activation was initiated by the Governor or the county if the activation was requested by the county sheriff shall provide workers' compensation insurance coverage for the activated members of the company for the duration of the member's active service under the activation order.

10. Liability. When a Home Guard company is in an activated status, the provisions of 10-1-601 and 10-3-111 apply. A member of a Home Guard company is not liable for injuries or damages incurred in the performance of assigned duties unless the member is found to be grossly negligent.

11.Purpose -- legislative intent. The purpose of this rule is to recognize the importance of the service performed by Home Guard members and to protect the employment rights of Home Guard members who may be called to state active duty when there is a state emergency or disaster. The legislature also supports the efforts and sacrifices of the employers of Home Guard members and intends that this part will provide a means for Home Guard members and employers to work cooperatively to resolve any workplace issues.

12. Licenses and Permits If a Montana Home Guard member holds a valid license, certificate, or other permit evidencing the meeting of qualifications for professional, mechanical, or other skills is requested for assistance by the Governor or Sheriff, that person is considered licensed, certified, or permitted by the Governor or Sheriff to render aid involving that skill to meet a declared emergency or disaster. However, the person holding the license, certificate, or permit is subject to limitations and conditions that the Governor or Sheriff may prescribe by executive order or other means.

13. Implementation
(1)The enactment of these rules become operative immediately upon the signature of the Governor of Montana.