Montana § 45-7-309 Criminal Contempt

Montana Statutes

§ 45-7-309 — Criminal Contempt

Montana § 45-7-309

Title 45CRIMES

Ch. 7OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Part 3Obstructing Governmental Operations

This text of Montana § 45-7-309 (Criminal Contempt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Mont. Code Ann. § 45-7-309 (2026).

Text

45-7-309 . Criminal contempt.

(1)A person commits the offense of criminal contempt when the person knowingly engages in any of the following conduct:

(a)disorderly, contemptuous, or insolent behavior committed during the sitting of a court in its immediate view and presence and directly tending to interrupt its proceedings or to impair the respect due to its authority;

(b)breach of the peace, noise, or other disturbance directly tending to interrupt a court's proceeding;

(c)purposely disobeying or refusing any lawful process or other mandate of a court;

(d)unlawfully refusing to be sworn as a witness in any court proceeding or, after being sworn, refusing to answer any legal and proper interrogatory;

(e)purposely publishing a false or grossly inaccurate report of a court's proceeding

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45-7-309 . Criminal contempt. (1) A person commits the offense of criminal contempt when the person knowingly engages in any of the following conduct:
(a) disorderly, contemptuous, or insolent behavior committed during the sitting of a court in its immediate view and presence and directly tending to interrupt its proceedings or to impair the respect due to its authority;
(b) breach of the peace, noise, or other disturbance directly tending to interrupt a court's proceeding;
(c) purposely disobeying or refusing any lawful process or other mandate of a court;
(d) unlawfully refusing to be sworn as a witness in any court proceeding or, after being sworn, refusing to answer any legal and proper interrogatory;
(e) purposely publishing a false or grossly inaccurate report of a court's proceeding;
(f) purposely failing to obey any mandate, process, or notice relative to juries issued pursuant to Title 3, chapter 15; or
(g) purposely failing to comply with the requirements of the 24/7 sobriety and drug monitoring program provided for in Title 44, chapter 4, part 12, if ordered by a court to participate in the program.
(2) A person convicted of the offense of criminal contempt shall be fined not to exceed $500 or be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not to exceed 6 months, or both.

Legislative History

En. 94-7-309 by Sec. 1, Ch. 513, L. 1973; R.C.M. 1947, 94-7-309 ; amd. Sec. 1690, Ch. 56, L. 2009; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 318, L. 2011; amd. Sec. 20, Ch. 55, L. 2015.