How the Right to Know Works

§ 2-6-1006 and § 2-6-1009 Explained

Art. II § 9 of the Montana Constitution guarantees all people the right to examine public documents or observe deliberations of public bodies, provided that the merits of public disclosure outweigh the demand of individual privacy. This constitutional provision is made operable through Title II, Section 6 of the Montana Code Annotated.

Timeline

For agencies that report to the Governor:

A working list of agencies that report to the governor can be found here.

Upon receipt of an information request, the agency has 5 business days to acknowledge to the requestor that they have received the request. If the request is for a single, specific, clearly identifiable, and readily available public record, then the agency has 5 business days from acknowledgement to provide the record.

If the information requested cannot be readily identified and gathered (that is, if the request is not for a single, identifiable document), the agency must provide the requesting person an estimate of the time it will take to fulfill the request and any fees that may be charged, then must:

  • Provide the specific public record within 90 days of acknowledgement, or

  • Within 6 months (with written notice explaining why the request cannot be fulfilled within 90 days).

If the agency asks for clarification or for payment of a fee, the deadline for response will be suspended while the agency waits for a response. If the requestor doesn’t respond in 30 days, the agency can close the request.

Agencies reporting to the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the State Auditor will follow this timeline starting October 2025. For now, they follow the below timeline.

For all other agencies:

Upon receipt of an information request, the agency in a timely manner must:

  • Make the information available, or

  • Provide requestor with an estimate of time it will take to fulfill the requests, and possible fees.

This section sourced from Montana Code, § 2-6-1006.

Fees

Agencies can charge a fee for fulfilling the request but the fee:

  • Cannot be higher than actual costs,

  • Must be documented, and

  • Can be estimated and required before the gathering of information.  

If the requestor asks the agency to “customize” the way the information is presented, that could result in additional fees.

This section sourced from Montana Code, § 2-6-1006.

Fees for the requests to the Secretary of State are enumerated here.

Denial

If a public agency wants to deny an information request, they must provide the requestor with a written explanation of why their request was denied.

  • If a requestor believes their request was unjustly denied, they may sue that agency.

  • If a requestor does not receive a response from the agency they requested information from, they may sue that agency.

If the requestor wins their lawsuit, they may be entitled to related costs and attorneys fees.

This section sourced from Montana Code, § 2-6-1009.