Table of Contents TITLE 45. CRIMES CHAPTER 6. OFFENSES AGAINST PROPERTY Part 1. Criminal Mischief and Arson
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33 45-6-101 2 45-6-102 8 45-6-103 45-6-104 4 45-6-105 1 45-6-106

Mont. Code Ann. § 45-6-101

(2021)

Criminal mischief

(1) A person commits the offense of criminal mischief if the person knowingly or purposely:

(a) injures, damages, or destroys any property of another or public property without consent;

(b) without consent tampers with property of another or public property so as to endanger or interfere with persons or property or its use;

(c) damages or destroys property with the purpose to defraud an insurer; or

(d) fails to close a gate previously unopened that the person has opened, leading in or out of any enclosed premises. This does not apply to gates located in cities or towns.

(2) A person convicted of criminal mischief must be ordered to make restitution in an amount and manner to be set by the court. The court shall determine the manner and amount of restitution after full consideration of the convicted person's ability to pay the restitution. Upon good cause shown by the convicted person, the court may modify any previous order specifying the amount and manner of restitution. Full payment of the amount of restitution ordered must be made prior to the release of state jurisdiction over the person convicted.

(3) A person convicted of the offense of criminal mischief shall be fined not to exceed $1,500 or be imprisoned in the county jail for any term not to exceed 6 months, or both. If the offender commits the offense of criminal mischief and causes pecuniary loss in excess of $1,500, injures or kills a commonly domesticated hoofed animal, or causes a substantial interruption or impairment of public communication, transportation, supply of water, gas, or power, or other public services, the offender shall be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000 or be imprisoned in the state prison for a term not to exceed 10 years, or both.

(4) Amounts involved in criminal mischiefs committed pursuant to a common scheme or the same transaction, whether against the public or the same person or several persons, may be aggregated in determining pecuniary loss.

(5) A person convicted of or who forfeits bond or bail for committing an act of criminal mischief involving property owned or administered by the department of fish, wildlife, and parks shall forfeit any current hunting, fishing, or trapping license issued by this state and the privilege to hunt, fish, or trap in this state for at least 24 months from the date of conviction or forfeiture.

Opinions construing this section

33 opinions
2024 MT 180 Aug 20, 2024 Reversed
State v. A. McCurdy
Majority by Beth Baker · 5 to 0
e McCurdy to a six-year deferred imposition of sentence. The District Court accepted the plea agreement and ordered McCurdy to participate in a PSI with the 1 Section 45-6-101(1)(a), MCA. 2 State of Montana Probation and Parole Bureau (Probation and Parole). A Probation and Parole officer interviewed McCurdy and compiled his criminal histor
2024 MT 59 Mar 19, 2024 Affirmed
State v. B. Schroder
Majority by Ingrid Gustafson · 5 to 0
ix-month deferred sentence and payment of $2,039.20 in restitution to be paid in monthly payments of $340 for criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, in violation of § 45-6-101(1)(a), MCA. We affirm. ¶2 We restate the issue on appeal as follows: Did the District Court err in imposing restitution against Schroder without fully considering his a
2023 MT 247N Dec 22, 2023 Opinion issued in a DA case, outcome unknown
Matter of N.T., A Youth
Majority · 0 to 0
Montana Eighteenth Judicial District Youth Court, Gallatin County, for committing acts that would constitute felony criminal mischief, a felony in violation of § 45-6-101, MCA. Corrected: ¶ 2 N.T. appeals his adjudication as a delinquent youth and youth court disposition entered in the Montana Eighteenth Judicial District Youth Cour
2023 MT 214 Nov 14, 2023 Reversed
State v. R. Arthun
Majority by Jim Rice · 4 to 0
udgment entered by the Eighteenth Judicial District Court following a trial in which the jury found him guilty of Criminal Mischief, a felony, in violation of § 45-6-101, MCA. Arthun challenges the District Court’s restitution order. We consider: 1. Did the District Court err as a matter of law by assessing restitution for the dam
2022 MT 170N Aug 30, 2022 Affirmed
State v. J. Maxvill, Jr
Majority by Beth Baker · 5 to 0
ry, under § 45-6-204(1)(a), MCA, second-offense PFMA, under § 45-5-206(1)(c), MCA, third-offense PFMA, under § 45-5-206(1)(c), MCA, Criminal Mischief, under § 45-6-101, MCA, and Driving While Privilege to do so is Suspended or Revoked, under § 61-5-212, MCA. The State charged Maxvill with second-and third-offense PFMAs—one as t
Official Annotations archive.org, 2021 edition
History:
En. 94-6-102 by Sec. 1, Ch. 513, L. 1973
Amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 88, L. 1975
R.C.M. 1947, 94-6-102
Amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 198, L. 1981
Amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 560, L. 1981
Amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 581, L. 1983
Amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 98, L. 1989
Amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 616, L. 1993
Amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 397, L. 1999 (HB 255 - Anderson, Shiell (R) HD 25)
Amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 121, L. 2009 (HB 223 - Cohenour, Jill (D) HD 78)
Amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 473, L. 2009 (SB 476 - Shockley, Jim (R) SD 45)
Amd. Sec. 82, Ch. 258, L. 2011 (SB 124 - Ripley, Rick (R) SD 9)
Source text on leg.mt.gov