Montana Sixth Local Government Review Process
In June of this year, voters had the chance to decide if they wanted to a voter review for their county or municipality. In northeast Montana, Sheridan and Daniels Counties and the municipalities of Poplar, Culbertson, Bainville, Medicine Lake, Westby, Plentywood, Outlook, Flaxville, Scobey, and Nashua voted to go through the process for their area.
What is Montana’s local government voter review? It is a process that is a constitutional review that is required every 10 years. It’s an intentional review and deliberation that gives It’s a citizen’s opportunity to review their city’s power and form of government. They can make recommendations on improving the structure of the government, but not to personnel that are in place at the moment. They cities and counties that have elected to do this review now must elect a study commissioners and they will evaluate their local governments structure.
They can propose improvements, but any recommendations will need to be voted on at the November 2026 election, therefore the process will take a few years.
The first step is to file for commission candidates and that was done by Aug. 12, and write-in candidates by Sept 3. Then the commission is elected at the Nov. 5 election, with study commissioners sworn in no later than 10 days following the certification of the election. After that the MSU Local Government Center is offering trainings around the state to assist with the process with the closest training being in Sidney on Dec. 10. Over the course of the next few years the study commission will review the process, hold public meetings, and learn community needs to find the most beneficial and possible alternatives to the government structure. Then the findings will be submitted to the election administrator in August 2026 and voted on in the Nov. 3, 2026 election. The study commissions are still public entities and must follow Montana open meeting laws, Montana citizen participation laws, Montana code of ethics, and Montana public records and records retention laws, and each study commission includes an ex-officio nonvoting member.
What are they studying in the voter review? It is the citizen’s opportunity to review the local government power, form, and plans for their county or municipalities. For power, there are general governing powers or self-governing powers. For the form, the information reviewed will be the executive level. That can be the council, mayor, manager, commission, presiding officer, town meeting, or charter. When the plan is evaluated, it will be items such as an elected official’s term of office, supervisory of staff, partisan or nonpartisan, representation by area, combining of positions, and methods of filling vacancies.
What the local government voter review doesn’t do is determine the performance of an already present elected official, staff or appointed board members. It doesn’t review the local policies or ordinances, it doesn’t set fees, taxes or assessments, nor does it regulate the election of local officials. It also doesn’t review laws that require zoning and planning or regulate them. It is not an opportunity to direct or require a local government, officer, or employee of a local government to carry out any function or provide any service.
The 1972 Montana Constitution (Article XI, Section 9) is where the mandated legislature item came to fruition to establish procedures what would require both municipalities and every county government to undergo this periodic review. It was an unprecedented in the United States and remains after decades. It was hailed as one of the most important innovations in modernizing the accountability and performance that a local government can have. The MSU Extension Local Government Center will be helping to educate about the process around the state in December 2024. This is a place where you can make your voice heard.
For more information you can access the MSU Local Government website at https:// www.montana.edu/extension/ localgov/mtvoterreview/index. html.
