Mont. Code Ann. § 45-7-302

Obstructing peace officer or other public servant

Known as the Criminal Code

The act spans §§ 45–45 (382 sections).

Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case Reed v. Lieurance (2017)

Most recently applied in Reed v. Lieurance (July 2017)

En. 94-7-302 by Sec. 1, Ch. 513, L. 1973; R.C.M. 1947, 94-7-302; amd

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) A person commits the offense of obstructing a peace officer or public servant if the person knowingly obstructs, impairs, or hinders the enforcement of the criminal law, the preservation of the peace, or the performance of a governmental function, including service of process.

(2) It is no defense to a prosecution under this section that the peace officer was acting in an illegal manner, provided that the peace officer was acting under the peace officer's official authority.

(3) A person convicted of the offense of obstructing a peace officer or other public servant, including a person serving process, shall be fined not to exceed $500 or be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not to exceed 6 months, or both.

Official source: Montana Code Annotated (Montana Legislature). Reproduced from public-domain Montana statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.