Montana § 45-8-116 Funeral Picketing -- Penalties

Montana Statutes

§ 45-8-116 — Funeral Picketing -- Penalties

Montana § 45-8-116

Title 45CRIMES

Ch. 8OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER

Part 1Conduct Disruptive of Public Order

This text of Montana § 45-8-116 (Funeral Picketing -- Penalties) 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. § 45-8-116 (2026).

Text

45-8-116 . Funeral picketing -- penalties.

(1)A person commits the offense of funeral picketing if the person knowingly engages in picketing within 1,500 feet of any property boundary entrance to or exit from a funeral site during the period from 1 hour before the scheduled commencement of the funeral services until 1 hour after the actual completion of the funeral services.

(2)A person convicted of funeral picketing shall be fined an amount not less than $250 and not more than $1,000 or be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not to exceed 12 months, or both.

(3)This section does not affect any proceeding against a person for violation of any other provision of law. A district court may enjoin conduct proscribed by this section.

(4)In addition to, and not in lieu of, the penalties

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45-8-116 . Funeral picketing -- penalties. (1) A person commits the offense of funeral picketing if the person knowingly engages in picketing within 1,500 feet of any property boundary entrance to or exit from a funeral site during the period from 1 hour before the scheduled commencement of the funeral services until 1 hour after the actual completion of the funeral services.
(2) A person convicted of funeral picketing shall be fined an amount not less than $250 and not more than $1,000 or be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not to exceed 12 months, or both.
(3) This section does not affect any proceeding against a person for violation of any other provision of law. A district court may enjoin conduct proscribed by this section.
(4) In addition to, and not in lieu of, the penalties provided for in subsection (2), a district court may in a civil action award damages, including punitive damages, attorney fees, and other appropriate relief, to a person who suffers injury as a result of activity that may be a violation of this section.
(5) As used in this section, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Funeral" or "funeral services" means the ceremonies, rituals, and memorial services held in connection with the memorial of a deceased person or in connection with the burial, cremation, or other disposition of a human body, including the assembly and dispersal of the persons attending the funeral.
(b) "Funeral site" means a church, synagogue, mosque, funeral home, mortuary, cemetery, gravesite, mausoleum, or other public or private place where a funeral is conducted.
(c) "Picketing" means the making of any noise or diversion that can reasonably be expected to disturb a funeral by:
(i) standing, sitting, or repeated walking, riding, driving, or other similar action by a person displaying or carrying a banner, placard, flag, sign, or similar device that is not a part of the funeral services;
(ii) engaging, with or without the use of a sound amplification device, in loud oration, speech, singing, chanting, whistling, or yelling that is not part of the funeral services;
(iii) distributing any handbill, pamphlet, leaflet, or other written or printed material other than written material that is distributed as part of the funeral services; or
(iv) obstructing or preventing the intended uses of a public street, public sidewalk, or other public space.