Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 7. LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER 4. OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

Part 26. Office of County Clerk

Fees Of County Clerk

7-4-2631. Fees of county clerk. (1) Except as provided in 7-2-2803(4), 7-4-2632, 7-4-2637, and this section, the county clerks shall charge, for the use of their respective counties:

(a) for filing and indexing each writ of attachment, execution, certificate of sale, lien, or other instrument required by law to be filed and indexed, $5;

(b) for filing of subdivision and townsite plats, $25 plus:

(i) for each lot up to and including 100, 50 cents;

(ii) for each additional lot in excess of 100, 25 cents;

(c) for filing certificates of surveys and amendments thereto, $25 plus 50 cents per tract or lot;

(d) for each page of a document required to be filed with a subdivision, townsite plat, or certificate of survey for which a filing fee is not otherwise set by law, $1;

(e) for a copy of a record or paper:

(i) for the first page of any document, 50 cents, and 25 cents for each subsequent page; and

(ii) for each certification with seal affixed, $2;

(f) for searching an index record of files of the office for each year when required in abstracting or otherwise, 50 cents;

(g) for administering an oath with certificate and seal, no charge;

(h) for taking and certifying an acknowledgment, with seal affixed, for signature to it, no charge;

(i) for filing, indexing, or other services provided for by Title 30, chapter 9A, part 5, the fees prescribed under those sections;

(j) for recording each stock subscription and contract, stock certificate, and articles of incorporation for water users' associations, $3;

(k) for filing a copy of notarial commission and issuing a certificate of official character of such notary public, $2;

(l) for each certified copy of a birth certificate, $8, and for each certified copy of a death certificate, $7;

(m) for electronic storage of minutes of an administrative board, district, or commission pursuant to 7-1-204, 7-11-1030, 7-13-2350, 7-22-2113, 7-33-2112, or 76-15-324, no charge; and

(n) for filing, recording, or indexing any other instrument not expressly provided for in this section or 7-4-2632, the same fee provided in this section or 7-4-2632 for a similar service.

(2) The county clerks shall charge, for the use of their respective counties, the fee as provided in 7-4-2632 for recording and indexing the following:

(a) each certificate of location of a quartz or placer mining claim or millsite claim, including a certificate that the instrument has been recorded with the seal affixed; and

(b) each affidavit of annual labor on a mining claim, including a certificate that the instrument has been recorded with the seal affixed.

(3) State agencies submitting documents to be put of record shall pay the fees provided for in this section. If a state agency or political subdivision has requested an account with the county clerk, any applicable fees must be paid on a periodic basis.

(4) (a) A county shall transfer $2 of each fee collected for a death certificate issued under subsection (1)(l) to the department of revenue for deposit in the account in the state special revenue fund to the credit of the board of funeral service.

(b) The fee must be transferred monthly unless the department and the county have agreed to a different transfer schedule.

History: Ap.p. Sec. 4635, Pol. C. 1895; re-en. Sec. 3168, Rev. C. 1907; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 117, L. 1911; re-en. Sec. 4917, R.C.M. 1921; re-en. Sec. 4917, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 87, L. 1941; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 90, L. 1953; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 202, L. 1955; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 148, L. 1957; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 9, L. 1959; amd. Sec. 11-115, Ch. 264, L. 1963; amd. Sec. 73, Ch. 348, L. 1974; amd. Sec. 32, Ch. 213, L. 1975; Sec. 25-231, R.C.M. 1947; Ap.p. Sec. 1, Ch. 68, L. 1909; re-en. Sec. 4467, R.C.M. 1921; re-en. Sec. 4467, R.C.M. 1935; Sec. 16-1101, R.C.M. 1947; Ap.p. Sec. 8, Ch. 198, L. 1961; Sec. 70-415, R.C.M. 1947; R.C.M. 1947, 16-1101(part), 25-231(part), 70-415(part); amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 487, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 414, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 467, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 14, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 27, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 220, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 10, Ch. 370, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 37, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 292, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 451, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 127, Ch. 305, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 571, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 215, L. 2011; amd. Sec. 15, Ch. 347, L. 2011; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 207, L. 2013; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 201, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 262, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 380, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 461, L. 2019; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 160, L. 2021.