PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUEST

*Note: CSI does not provide lists of licensees or their contact information.

A “public record” is “public information that is:

  • fixed in any medium and is retrievable in a usable form for future reference; and
  • designated for retention by the state records committee, judicial branch, legislative branch, or local government records committee.” 2-6-1002(13), MCA. “Public information” is “information prepared, owned, used, or retained by any public agency relating to the transaction of official business, regardless of form, except for confidential information that must be protected against public disclosure under applicable law.”

§ 2-6-1002(11), MCA

The Montana Constitution contains an explicit right to know, including the right to examine documents of public agencies: “No person shall be deprived of the right to examine documents or to observe the deliberations of all public bodies or agencies of state government and its subdivisions, except in cases in which the demand of individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure.”

Mont. Const. Art. II, sec. 9

Montana statutes provide additional rights for accessing public information. In particular, “every person has a right to examine and obtain of copy of any public information of this state.”

§ 2-6- 1003(1), MCA

There are a number of exceptions to public disclosure that can be redacted from a public records request, including but not limited to:

  • Social Security number(except the last four digits when necessary for identification);
  • Taxpayer ID number(except the last four digits only when necessary for identification);
  • Birthdate (except the year only when months/days are necessary for identification);
  • Financial account number ( except the last four digits only when necessary for identification);
  • Names of minors (except that initials may be used when necessary for identification);
  • Individually identifiable health information under HIPAA, including health information identified with, or identifiable to, an individual that relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual; the provision of health care to an individual; or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual;
  • Confidential criminal justice information, including criminal investigative information, criminal intelligence information, fingerprints and photographs, criminal justice information or records made confidential by law; and any other criminal justice information not clearly defined as public criminal justice information;
  • Victim information for sexual, trafficking, and servitude crimes, or upon the request of the victim for other crimes;
  • Distribution list of personal contact information collected by a public agency and used to facilitate unsolicited contact with individuals on the distribution list, but not contact information that could be compiled into a distribution list from otherwise public records;
  • Attorney-client privileged and attorney work product information, which typically would be documented in a privilege log provided at the time of distribution;
  • Communications with NAIC or other agencies that treat the information as confidential (consider contacting NAIC or others to inquire whether they oppose disclosure);
  • Personal information consisting of a first name/initial, a last name, and any of the following numbers: driver’s license, stated ID card, tribal ID/enrollment, IRS identity protection personal ID, or any similar ID number issued by any state or territory;
  • Information where the demand of individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure; and
  • Information that is not accessible to the public pursuant to state or federal law or a court order (for example, a trade secret, as defined in § 30-14-402, MCA.

The fee for fulfilling a public information request is based on the sum of the following costs:

  • Copies for an Authorized Insurer are charged at $0.50 per page pursuant to § 33-2- 708(1)(b)(x), MCA. An Authorized Insurer is defined by § 33-1-201(2), MCA, as “an insurer duly authorized by a certificate of authority issued by the commissioner to transact insurance in this state.”
  • Copies of securities records requested by any person are charged at $0.50 per page pursuant to § 30-10-107(6), MCA. A person is defined by § 30-10-103(16), MCA, as “an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an association, a joint-stock company, a trust in which the interests of the beneficiaries are evidenced by a security, an unincorporated organization, a government, or a political subdivision of a government.” Copies for any other purpose not covered by 1 or 2 are charged at $0.25 per page.
  • Supplies or services used to fulfill or deliver the request are charged at their actual cost.
  • The CSI staff time is charged at the actual hourly cost of the employee’s time required to gather public information. Fees for fractions of hours worked must be paid on a proportionate basis to the nearest one-tenth hour.

Public Information Request

Name(Required)
Address(Required)
Type of Request(Required)
MM slash DD slash YYYY