Domestic Violence Law in Montana
Montana Legal Definitions
To read the legal definitions, click on the MCA number in the list below for a link to the relevant statute in the Montana Code Annotated (MCA).
MCA 45-5-206 defines Partner or Family Member Assault.
MCA 45-5-220 defines stalking.
Orders of protection are legal documents that offer victims of violent crime a measure of protection by setting limits on what an offender can legally do. Petitions for orders of protection can be filed in a justice, city, municipal or district court. The judge may order conditions he or she believes are necessary to protect a victim. Victims can ask the court for an order of protection that:
- prohibits the offender from hurting them or threatening to hurt them
- prohibits the offender from calling, contacting or harrassing them
- directs the offender to leave their home and prohibits the offender from having any contact with them
- prevents the offender from transferring any property, except in the usual course of business
- prohibits the offender from being within 1,500 feet or other appropriate distance of the victim, any named family member, and the victim's work site or other specified place
- gives victims possession of necessary personal property
- prohibits the offender from possessing or using the firearm used in the assault
MCA 45-5-626 outlines the punishment for violation of an order of protection.
