Montana Transparency Project
Supporting Montanans and the constitutional Right to Know
Every Montanan should be able to realize their constitutional Right to Know. We are dedicated to helping individuals and organizations fulfill information requests, promoting statewide education on government transparency, and holding institutions accountable for protecting this right.
The Right to Know
Montana Constitution, Article II, Section 9
No person shall be deprived of the right to examine documents or to observe the deliberation of all public bodies or agencies of state government and its subdivisions, except in cases in which the demand of individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure.
The Right to Know is a broad grant to Montanans meant to promote transparency and accountability. We have a right to review almost all documents held by state and local agencies.
This right is an opportunity for you to engage directly with your government. What do you want to know?
“It is hard to imagine how the inclusion in our Constitution of a right to know and a right to participate could do anything but improve in some measure responsiveness of government officials to citizens and improve in some measure citizens’ confidence and satisfaction in government. The government will be better for it; the people will be the better because of it.”
—Delegate Foster at the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention
Our Services
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Assisting with Requests
Use our resources—including sample FOI request forms—or reach out to us directly for assistance with submitting your request.
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Filing our Own
If you have a request idea, but not the resources to pursue it, connect with us to see if it’s something with which we can help.
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Resources
MTP is not the only organization working to ensure government transparency. Check out who else is available to answer Right to Know questions, statewide and nationally.