Testing and evidence

Implied consent and refusal in Montana

The test requested, legal grounds and applicable statute matter.

Implied-consent laws connect driving and chemical testing under specified legal conditions. The test requested and the officer’s legal grounds matter. The source-checked rules available for Montana appear below. A missing suspension figure is not a statement that refusal has no consequences. Check the applicable notice and official provision.

What a refusal does in Montana

Suspension length after a refusal: Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
Other consequences of refusing: Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.Whether a refusal is separately chargeable, and whether it can be used as evidence, varies by state.
Suspension under the cited rule: Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.

Roadside tests and chemical tests are different things

Identify what was requested: a field sobriety exercise, a roadside screening test, or a chemical test of breath, blood or urine. Do not assume the same refusal rule applies to all of them. The relevant statute, any warrant, and the circumstances of the request determine the legal question for a lawyer to review.

The two legal questions

The criminal charge and driving privileges can involve different proceedings. The notice, order and cited rule identify the applicable process.

Driving privileges

The licence case

Forum: The agency or court identified by the applicable licence proceeding
Clock: Check the applicable notice or order for the deadline and its starting event

Deadline to request a hearing: For the implied-consent refusal challenge, file a district-court petition within 30 days after the officer gives notice of the right to a hearing.
Suspension under the cited rule: Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.
After a refusal: Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.

Criminal charge

The criminal case

Forum: A criminal court
Clock: Check court notices and orders; no case duration is predicted here

Alcohol-concentration threshold: 0.08% or more while driving or in actual physical control of a noncommercial vehicle on a public way.
First-offense penalty rule: Not published yet. We show a figure only once it has been confirmed against the official source and dated.The cited rule may describe a range or a minimum with conditions, not a predicted sentence.