Title 7, Title 7

(1) Whenever, in the opinion of the county and supported by a health care provider's opinion, the deputy sheriff is able to perform specified types of light duty, payment of the officer's partial salary amount under 7-32-2113 must be discontinued if the deputy sheriff refuses to …

A local government may not reduce the authorized number of full-time law enforcement officers through the appointment or utilization of reserve officers.

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Detention center" means a facility established and maintained by an appropriate entity for the purpose of confining arrested persons or persons sentenced to the detention center. (2) "Detention center administrator" mean…

The sheriff shall: (1) preserve the peace; (2) arrest and take before the nearest magistrate for examination all persons who attempt to commit or have committed a public offense; (3) prevent and suppress all affrays, breaches of the peace, riots, and insurrections that may come t…

Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of sheriff, the undersheriff must in all things execute the office of sheriff until a sheriff is elected or appointed and duly qualified.

A sheriff who operates a detention center under 7-32-2121 may appoint deputy sheriffs or nonsworn individuals as detention center staff. A nonsworn individual appointed to the detention center staff need not receive the same salary as a deputy sheriff.

Service of a paper, other than a process, upon the sheriff may be made by delivering it to the sheriff, a deputy, or a person in charge of the office during office hours or, if none of the enumerated individuals is there, by leaving it in a conspicuous place in the office.

The board of county commissioners may purchase or lease motor vehicles from county funds for the use of the sheriff or any person employed by the sheriff and may also pay for the operation and maintenance of those vehicles from county funds.

(1) The board of county commissioners shall provide liability insurance for not more than one privately owned vehicle used by the sheriff, not more than one privately owned vehicle used by the undersheriff, and not more than one privately owned vehicle used by each deputy sheriff…

Any action for default or misconduct of a sheriff, an undersheriff, detention center staff, or a deputy may be prosecuted against the executors or administrators of the sheriff.

A sheriff who falsely represents to the board of county commissioners or governor the sheriff's actual traveling expenses in the performance of any official duty or causes to be paid to the sheriff from the state or any county treasury a sum exceeding the actual expenses in the p…

Any default, misfeasance, or malfeasance of an undersheriff is a breach of the condition of the bond given by the sheriff who appointed the undersheriff and is also a breach of the condition of the bond given by the undersheriff to the sheriff.

To be appointed a reserve officer, a person: (1) must have resided in the state continuously for at least 1 year prior to the appointment and in the county where the appointment is made for a period of at least 6 months prior to the date of the appointment; (2) must be a citizen …

If on demand the sheriff neglects or refuses to pay any money to the person entitled to money that may come into the sheriff's possession by virtue of office, after deducting legal fees, the person may recover the amount with 25% damages and interest at the rate of 10% a month fr…

(1) If the sheriff does not return a notice or process in the sheriff's possession with the necessary endorsement without delay, the sheriff is liable to the party aggrieved for $200 and for all damages sustained by the party. (2) If the sheriff to whom a writ of execution or att…

(1) In addition to meeting the qualifications for county office provided in 7-4-2201, a person is not eligible for the position of sheriff at the time of election or appointment unless the individual: (a) is a high school graduate or has been issued a high school equivalency dipl…

(1) A reserve officer may not be authorized to function as a representative of a law enforcement agency performing general law enforcement duties after 2 years from the original appointment unless the reserve officer has satisfactorily completed a minimum 88-hour basic training p…

(1) For the services provided in subsections (1)(a) through (1)(n), the sheriff shall receive the fees, if any, set by the county governing body. If fees have not been set by the county governing body, the sheriff shall receive the following: (a) for the service of summons and co…

For the expense in taking and keeping possession of and preserving property under attachment, execution, or other process, the sheriff shall receive such sum as the court or judge may order, not to exceed the actual expense incurred. No keeper must receive to exceed $10 per day, …

(1) Except as provided in 7-32-2144 and 7-32-2145, in addition to the fees specified in 7-32-2141 and 7-32-2142, the sheriff may receive for each mile actually traveled in serving any writ, process, order, or other paper, including a warrant of arrest, or in conveying a person un…

(1) A sheriff delivering prisoners at the state prison or a juvenile correctional facility or mentally ill persons at the Montana state hospital or other mental health facility is entitled to actual expenses necessarily incurred in their transportation. The expenses include the e…

For trips made for the return of fugitives apprehended and arrested outside the county, the sheriff shall receive the actual necessary expenses incurred in going for and returning with such fugitive. In determining the actual expense if travel is by a privately owned vehicle, the…

The authorizing law enforcement agency establishing a law enforcement reserve force shall adopt and publish a manual setting forth the minimum qualifications, minimum training standards, and standard operating procedures for reserve officers.

(1) A reserve officer may serve as a peace officer only on the orders and at the direction of the chief law enforcement administrator of the local government. (2) Except for a reserve officer serving as a court officer as provided in 3-6-303, a reserve officer may act only in a s…

No reserve officer may carry a weapon: (1) while on assigned duty until the reserve officer has qualified on the firing range with a weapon in compliance with the firearms qualifying course conducted by the Montana law enforcement academy; and (2) until authorized by the chief la…

A reserve officer is vested with the same powers, rights, privileges, obligations, and duties as any other peace officer of this state upon being activated by the chief law enforcement administrator of the local government and while on assigned duty only.

The chief law enforcement administrator of a law enforcement agency with reserve officers shall appoint a full-time law enforcement officer of the agency as a reserve force coordinator. The reserve force coordinator shall coordinate the activities of the reserve force with those …

A reserve officer may be appointed as a full-time law enforcement officer through the procedures provided in Montana law for such appointments.

For the confinement of lawfully committed persons, the governing body of a county may participate in or undertake one or more of the following: (1) A detention center may be built or provided and kept in good repair at the expense of the county in each county, except that wheneve…

(1) When there is no detention center in the county or when the detention center becomes unfit or unsafe for the confinement of inmates, the district court judge may, by written appointment filed with the district court clerk, designate the detention center of a contiguous county…

Detention centers are used as follows: (1) for the detention of persons committed in order to secure their attendance as witnesses in criminal cases; (2) for the detention of persons charged with crime and committed for trial; (3) for the confinement of persons committed for cont…

The county commissioners, or the private party when provided in an agreement entered into under 7-32-2201(2), have the duty of building, operating, inspecting, and repairing the detention center and must take all necessary precautions against escape, sickness, or infection.

The detention center administrator shall receive all persons committed to the detention center by competent authority and provide them with necessary food, clothing, and bedding.

(1) Whenever a person is committed upon process in a civil action or proceeding, except when the state is a party to the action, the detention center administrator is not bound to receive the person unless security is given on the part of the party at whose instance the process i…

An inmate committed to a detention center for trial or examination or, except as provided in 7-32-2225 through 7-32-2227, a prisoner convicted must be actually confined in the detention center until the inmate or prisoner is legally discharged.

Reserve officers serve at the pleasure of the chief law enforcement administrator and may be terminated at any time by the chief law enforcement administrator by written notification without any cause.

A detention center administrator who is served with a paper in a judicial proceeding that is directed to an inmate in the administrator's custody shall immediately deliver it to the inmate.

A reserve officer may change permanent residency to another county and remain a member of the reserve officer unit to which the reserve officer was appointed provided that: (1) the statutory basic training requirements have been met; (2) the probationary period established by the…

(1) Restraints may not be used on an inmate known to be pregnant during labor and delivery, except as provided in subsection (2). (2) (a) Except as provided in subsection (2)(b), restraints may be used on a pregnant inmate during labor and delivery in extraordinary circumstances …

(1) Each detention center shall comply with state and local fire codes for correctional occupancy and with sanitation, safety, and health codes. (2) Designated exits must permit prompt evacuation of inmates and detention center staff in an emergency. (3) When there is good reason…

(1) The detention center administrator shall forward to the appropriate arresting agency all charges for medical treatment for which the agency is responsible. (2) When the inmate is in the custody of a county detention center and the detention center administrator determines tha…

(1) A county may operate a county jail work program. The program may be established to allow jail inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses to serve a sentence of imprisonment in the county jail by performing county work without actual physical confinement in the county jail. (2) …

(1) If a county establishes a county jail work program, it must be authorized by the board of county commissioners and supervised by the county sheriff. The sheriff may permit persons eligible under the provisions of 7-32-2227 to work on public projects as designated by the board…

A person may be permitted to participate in a county jail work program if the person: (1) has been sentenced to the county jail for an offense and is not confined in the county jail upon process in a civil action or prior to examination or trial; (2) is not serving a sentence for…

It is the purpose of 7-32-2231 through 7-32-2234 to allow multijurisdictional or single-jurisdiction detention centers to be built by private industry and leased to the participating local government or governments for operation by the local government, collectively by participat…

(1) The term of an agreement under 7-32-2201 with a private party may not exceed 3 years. (2) The agreement must include: (a) detailed standards for the operation of the detention center and the incarceration of inmates; (b) a performance bond from the private party acceptable to…