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173 46-18-201 77 46-18-202 154 46-18-203 10 46-18-204 4 46-18-205 1 46-18-211 46-18-212 1 46-18-213 3 46-18-219 1 46-18-220 21 46-18-221 32 46-18-222 5 46-18-223 46-18-224 16 46-18-225 33 46-18-231 42 46-18-232 1 46-18-233 5 46-18-234 2 46-18-235 24 46-18-236 3 46-18-237 51 46-18-241 30 46-18-242 59 46-18-243 27 46-18-244 2 46-18-245 21 46-18-246 5 46-18-247 1 46-18-248 8 46-18-249 2 46-18-250 3 46-18-251 7 46-18-255 1 46-18-256 46-18-261

Mont. Code Ann. § 46-18-241

(2003)

Condition of restitution

(1) As provided in 46-18-201, a sentencing court shall, as part of the sentence, require an offender to make full restitution to any victim who has sustained pecuniary loss, including a person suffering an economic loss. The duty to pay full restitution under the sentence remains with the offender or the offender's estate until full restitution is paid and is a condition of any probation or parole.

(2) (a) The court shall require the offender to pay the cost of supervising the payment of restitution, as provided in 46-18-245, if the offender is able to pay, by paying an amount equal to 10% of the amount of restitution ordered, but not less than $5.

(b) A felony offender shall pay the restitution and cost of supervising the payment of restitution to the department of corrections until the offender has fully paid the restitution and the cost of supervising the payment of restitution. The department shall pay the restitution to the person or entity to whom the court ordered restitution to be paid. The department may contract with a government agency or private entity for the collection of the payments for restitution and the cost of collecting the payments for restitution during the period following state supervision or state custody of the offender. The department shall adopt rules to implement this subsection (2)(b).

(c) In a misdemeanor case, payment of restitution and of the cost of supervising the payment of restitution must be made to the court until the offender has fully paid the restitution and the cost of supervising the payment of restitution. The court shall disburse the money to the entity employing the person ordered to supervise restitution under 46-18-245, which shall disburse the restitution to the person or entity to whom the court ordered restitution to be paid.

(3) If at any time the court finds that, because of circumstances beyond the offender's control, the offender is not able to pay any restitution, the court may order the offender to perform community service during the time that the offender is unable to pay. The offender must be given a credit against restitution due at the rate of the hours of community service times the state minimum wage in effect at the time that the community service is performed.

Opinions construing this section

51 opinions
2026 MT 174N Jul 28, 2026 Reversed
State v. T. Miller
Majority by Katherine M. Bidegaray · 5 to 0
f restitution de novo and any underlying factual findings in support for clear error. State v. Cleveland, 2018 MT 199, ¶ 7, 392 Mont. 338, 423 P.3d 1074. ¶8 Section 46-18-241(1), MCA, provides that “a sentencing court shall, as part of the sentence, require an offender to make full restitution to any victim who has sustained pecuniary lo
2026 MT 74N Apr 7, 2026 Affirmed
City of Helena v. Ittner
Majority by Katherine M. Bidegaray · 5 to 0
Supported by Substantial Evidence ¶15 A sentencing court shall require an offender to make full restitution to any victim who has sustained pecuniary loss. Section 46-18-241(1), MCA. “Pecuniary loss” means “all special damages . . . substantiated by evidence in the record that a person could recover against the offender in a civil ac
2025 MT 282 Dec 9, 2025 Affirmed
State v. K. Mullendore
Majority by Laurie McKinnon · 5 to 0
¶68 We review conclusions of law regarding the measure of restitution for correctness. State v. Barrick, 2015 MT 94, ¶ 11, 378 Mont. 441, 347 P.3d 241. Section 46-18-241(1), MCA, provides that “a sentencing court shall, as part of the sentence, require an offender to make full restitution to any victim who has sustained pecuniary los
2025 MT 218 Sep 30, 2025 Reversed
State v. Powell
Majority by Katherine M Bidegaray · 4 to 1 with 1 concurring
r or not the offender is under state supervision. If the offender is under state supervision, payment of restitution is a condition of any probation or parole. Section 46-18-241(1), MCA. The law also requires that, [f]or a felony offense, the court shall order the department of corrections to supervise the payment of restitution. For a misdeme
2025 MT 218 Sep 30, 2025 Reversed
State v. Powell
Dissenting by Cory J. Swanson · 4 to 1 with 1 concurring
er the sentence remains with the offender or the offender’s estate until full restitution is paid, whether or not the offender is under state supervision.” Section 46-18-241(1), MCA. Powell acknowledged this duty himself when he rendered his single payment of restitution in January 2020, apparently without being issued a payment schedule o
Official Annotations archive.org, 2003 edition
History:
En. Sec. 1, Ch. 426, L. 1983
Amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 490, L. 1989
Amd. Sec. 13, Ch. 125, L. 1995
Amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 310, L. 1995
Amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 181, L. 1997
Amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 272, L. 2003 (HB 220 - Laszloffy, Jeff (R) HD 22)