Title 46, Title 46

A person serving a sentence under conditions of home arrest is responsible for food, housing, clothing, and medical care expenses and is eligible for government benefits to the same extent as a person on probation, parole, or conditional discharge.

At least once every 30 days, the supervising authority shall provide all local and county law enforcement agencies with a list of the offenders under home arrest in their jurisdictions. This list must include the following information: (1) the offender's place of home arrest; (2)…

(1) It is the purpose of this section to establish the correctional and sentencing policy of the state of Montana. Laws for the punishment of crime are drawn to implement the policy established by this section. (2) The correctional and sentencing policy of the state of Montana is…

(1) The judgment must be rendered in open court. For purposes of this section, a judgment rendered through the use of two-way electronic audio-video communication, allowing all of the participants to be heard in the courtroom by all present and allowing the party speaking to be s…

All sentences under this chapter shall be imposed exclusively by the judge of the court.

As used in 46-18-101, 46-18-105, 46-18-201, 46-18-225, and this section, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply: (1) "Community corrections" or "community corrections facility or program" means a community corrections facility or program as defined…

The department of corrections may provide community corrections facilities or programs for the rehabilitation of nonviolent felony offenders, as authorized under Title 53, chapter 30, part 3.

This part may be cited as the "Misdemeanor Expungement Clarification Act".

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Expunge" or "expungement" means to permanently destroy, delete, or erase a record of an offense from the criminal history record information system maintained by the department of justice in a manner that is appropriate …

(1) A person convicted of one or more misdemeanor offenses, whether in one court or multiple courts and whether in one case or multiple cases, and who has not had the person's records expunged under this part previously, may petition a district court for an order requiring the ex…

A person may file a petition for expungement in the district court of a judicial district in which the person was convicted of a misdemeanor for which expungement is sought.

(1) A person seeking expungement shall serve a copy of the petition for expungement to every prosecution office that prosecuted an offense for which expungement is being requested. (2) If a victim of an offense subject to a requested expungement exists, the prosecution office res…

Expungement is presumed if the person requesting expungement is not currently being detained for the commission of an offense, is not charged with the commission of an offense, and does not have charges pending for the commission of a new offense, as verified by the prosecution o…

(1) Expungement may not be presumed if the person seeking expungement has one or more convictions for assault under 45-5-201, partner or family member assault under 45-5-206, stalking under 45-5-220, sexual assault under 45-5-502, a violation of a protective order under 45-5-626,…

(1) The court must make its determination for an expungement on a preponderance of the evidence. (2) A presumption in favor of expungement may be overcome upon a determination that the interests of public safety demand dismissal. (3) If a representative of a prosecution office ap…

(1) (a) (i) Upon the acceptance of a plea or upon a verdict or finding of guilty to one or more felony offenses, except as provided in subsection (1)(d), the district court may request and direct the probation and parole officer to make a presentence investigation and report unle…

(1) When multiple misdemeanor offenses are requested to be expunged, the court may order expungement of all, some, or none of the misdemeanor offenses. (2) If an order of expungement is granted: (a) the order must direct, for each offense being expunged, the arresting law enforce…

For purposes of handling expunged records, the department of justice may adopt rules to implement the provisions of this section.

(1) Whenever an investigation is requested by the court, the probation and parole officer shall promptly inquire into and report upon: (a) the defendant's characteristics, circumstances, needs, and potentialities, as reflected in a validated risk and needs assessment; (b) the def…

(1) All presentence investigation reports must be a part of the court record but may not be opened for public inspection. A copy of the presentence investigation report must be provided to the prosecution, the defendant and the defendant's attorney, the probation and parole offic…

Before imposing sentence or making any other disposition upon acceptance of a plea or upon a verdict or finding of guilty, the court shall conduct a sentencing hearing, without unreasonable delay, as follows: (1) The court shall afford the parties an opportunity to be heard on an…

(1) The judgment must set forth the plea, the verdict or finding, and the adjudication. If the defendant is convicted, it must set forth the sentence or other disposition. The written judgment must be signed and must be entered on the record within 30 days after the oral pronounc…

(1) (a) Whenever a person has been found guilty of an offense upon a verdict of guilty or a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, a sentencing judge may defer imposition of sentence, except as otherwise specifically provided by statute, for a period: (i) not exceeding 1 year for a m…

(1) The sentencing judge may also impose any of the following restrictions or conditions on the sentence provided for in 46-18-201 that the judge considers necessary to obtain the objectives of rehabilitation and the protection of the victim and society: (a) prohibition of the of…

(1) On the filing of a petition for revocation showing probable cause that the offender has violated any condition of a sentence, any condition of a deferred imposition of sentence, or any condition of supervision after release from imprisonment imposed pursuant to 45-5-503(4), 4…

(1) Whenever the court has deferred the imposition of sentence and after termination of the time period during which imposition of sentence has been deferred or upon termination of the time remaining on a deferred sentence under 46-18-208: (a) for a felony conviction, the court s…

(1) If the victim was less than 16 years of age, the imposition or execution of the first 30 days of a sentence of imprisonment imposed under the following sections may not be deferred or suspended and the provisions of 46-18-222 do not apply to the first 30 days of the imprisonm…

Upon sentencing a person for conviction of a sexual offense under Title 45, chapter 5, part 5, who is designated as a level 3 offender under 46-23-509, the sentencing judge shall, as a condition of probation, parole, conditional release, or deferment or suspension of sentence, re…

(1) Upon sentencing a person convicted of a sexual offense, as defined in 46-23-502, the court shall designate the offender as a level 1, 2, or 3 offender pursuant to 46-23-509. (2) (a) Except as provided in subsection (2)(b), the court shall order an offender convicted of a sexu…

(1) When imposition of a sentence has been deferred or execution of a sentence has been suspended, the prosecutor, the defendant, or the defendant's attorney may file a motion to terminate the time remaining on the sentence if: (a) in the case of a deferred imposition of sentence…

When a statute authorizes imprisonment for its violation but does not prescribe the place of imprisonment, a sentence not to exceed 1 year shall be to the county jail.

The court, in imposing sentence upon an offender convicted of an offense for which no penalty is otherwise provided or if the offense is designated a misdemeanor and no penalty is otherwise provided, may sentence the offender to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 6 months in th…

The court, in imposing sentence upon an offender convicted of an offense which is designated as a felony and no penalty is otherwise provided, may sentence the offender for any term not to exceed 10 years in the state prison or may fine the offender in an amount not to exceed $50…

(1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (3), if an offender convicted of one of the following offenses was previously convicted of one of the following offenses or of an offense under the laws of another state or of the United States that, if committed in this state, would be on…

An offender convicted of having committed attempted deliberate homicide, aggravated assault, or aggravated kidnapping while in official detention, as defined in 45-2-101, shall, if the provisions of 46-1-401 have been complied with, be sentenced to death or life imprisonment as p…

(1) If the provisions of 46-1-401 have been complied with, a person who has been found guilty of any offense, other than an offense in which the use of a weapon is an element of the offense, and who, while engaged in the commission of the offense, knowingly displayed, brandished,…

Mandatory minimum sentences prescribed by the laws of this state, mandatory life sentences prescribed by 46-18-219, the restrictions on deferred imposition and suspended execution of sentence prescribed by 45-9-101(6), 45-9-103(3), 46-18-201(1)(b), 46-18-205, 46-18-221(3), 46-18-…

(1) When the application of an exception provided for in 46-18-222 is an issue, the court shall grant the defendant a hearing prior to the imposition of sentence to determine the applicability of the exception. (2) The hearing shall be held before the court sitting without a jury…

(1) If the provisions of 46-1-401 have been complied with, a person who has been found guilty of an offense in which bodily injury occurred or was attempted or threatened and who knowingly used or carried a handgun loaded with armor-piercing ammunition during the commission of th…

(1) In sentencing a nonviolent felony offender, the sentencing judge shall first consider alternatives to imprisonment of the offender in a state prison, including placement of the offender in a community corrections facility or program, a prerelease center, a prerelease program,…

(1) An offender who is convicted of committing a forcible felony, as defined in 45-2-101, against a pregnant woman and who, at the time of the offense, knew or should have known that the woman was pregnant shall, in addition to the punishment provided for commission of the offens…

Sections 46-18-227 and 46-18-228 may be cited as "Alan's Law".

(1) If the provisions of 46-1-401 are complied with, an individual who is found guilty of a misdemeanor offense under Title 45, chapter 5, or a felony offense while employed or volunteering in a caregiving facility and who committed the offense against a vulnerable person in the …

With respect to the cost of criminal proceedings, the legislature finds that: (1) the vast majority of the cost of the criminal proceedings in the state is borne by the general taxpaying public; (2) it is in the state's best interest to attempt to recover as much as possible of t…

(1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (1)(b), whenever, upon a verdict of guilty or a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, an offender has been found guilty of an offense for which a felony penalty of imprisonment could be imposed, the sentencing judge may, in lieu of or in addi…

(1) A court may require a convicted defendant in a felony or misdemeanor case to pay costs, as defined in 25-10-201, plus costs of jury service, costs of prosecution, and the cost of pretrial, probation, or community service supervision as a part of the defendant's sentence. The …