The Legislative Services Division (LSD) is an independent, nonpartisan, impartial agency that performs duties and functions for the Montana Legislature as assigned by law or as directed or requested by legislators or legislative committees. The Legislative Services Division works under the general supervision of the Legislative Council.
The division also serves as a source of information for the public on legislative matters, in part through:
Legislative Services Division PO Box 201706 Room 110, State Capitol 1301 East Sixth Avenue Helena, MT 59620-1706
By Phone: 406-444-3064
By Fax: 406-444-3036
Division Organization
The division has 6 distinct offices: Central Services, Research and Policy Analysis, Legal Services, Legislative Information Technology, Communications, and Environmental Policy.
The Central Services Office provides:
Financial management;
Payroll;
Purchasing;
Personnel management;
Procession and final preparation of LSD documents (including engrossing and enrolling of bills and preparation of introduced bills);
Legislator information and telecommunications.
The Communications Office provides:
Reception and general information to legislators and the public;
Publication distribution;
Legislator information and telecommunications;
Oversight of the broadcasting of legislative functions;
Reference services through the Legislative Reference Center.
The Office of Research and Policy Analysis and Legal Services Office provide:
General and specialized research, reference, and information functions;
Staff support to session and interim committees;
Bill drafting;
Research reports;
Information on the Legislature to the public.
The Office of Research and Policy Analysis also provides:
Primary staff support for interim legislative committees;
Project management and research for interim studies;
The Legal Services Office also provides:
Is responsible for the production of the Montana Code Annotated and the Annotations, which includes updating, editing, and indexing under the supervision of the Code Commissioner and the Director of Legal Services;
Reviews administrative rules;
Reviews proposed ballot issues for clarity, consistency, and conformity with the Bill Drafting Manual and for other legal requirements, and, if necessary, makes recommendations for revisions.
The Office of Legislative Information Technology provides:
Computer network and IT support;
System analysis;
Programming;
Development and maintenance of programs and applications used by the Legislative Branch.
