Open Meetings
MCA 2-3-203 — every meeting of a public body is open, closed only for individual privacy or some litigation strategy
All meetings of public bodies and agencies of the state and its subdivisions, and of organizations supported by or spending public funds, are open to the public.
Who handles this in Montana: legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Montana directory.
- The presiding officer may close the meeting only while the discussion concerns individual privacy, and only if privacy clearly exceeds the merits of disclosure.
- The person whose privacy is at stake may waive it, and the meeting is then open.
- A meeting may close to discuss litigation strategy where openness would hurt the agency's position, but not when the only parties are public bodies.
Minutes are kept and open to inspection, with the date, time, place, members present and the substance of everything discussed or decided.
Thirty days. A decision made in violation may be declared void by a district court. The suit is brought within 30 days of when the person learned, or should have learned, of the decision.
Sources for this section (3)
- MCA 2-3-203 — Meetings of public agencies and certain associations of public agencies to be open to public -- exceptions
- MCA 2-3-212 — Minutes of meetings -- public inspection
- MCA 2-3-213 — Voidability
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Montana attorney.