Montana Code 10-4-118. Providing phone location information in emergency
10-4-118. Providing phone location information in emergency. (1) At the request of a law enforcement agency officer or employee or other agent of a public safety answering point on behalf of a law enforcement agency who is acting in the course of the official duties of the officer or agent, a commercial mobile service as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 332 shall provide, subject to any limitations under applicable federal law, available phone location information of a telecommunications device without delay if the officer or agent asserts:
Terms Used In Montana Code 10-4-118
- Department: means the department of justice provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 20. See Montana Code 10-4-101
- Public safety answering point: means a communications facility operated on a 24-hour basis that first receives emergency communications from persons requesting emergency services and that may, as appropriate, directly dispatch emergency services or transfer or relay the emergency communications to appropriate public safety agencies. See Montana Code 10-4-101
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(a)that the device was used to place a 9-1-1 call requesting emergency assistance; or
(b)reasonable suspicion that the device is in the possession of an individual who is involved in an emergency situation that involves risk of death or serious physical harm.
(2)If a law enforcement agency officer or an employee or other agent of a public safety answering point acting on behalf of an officer submits a request for location information to a commercial mobile service under subsection (1), the law enforcement agency employing the officer shall maintain a record of the request that includes each of the following:
(a)the name of the officer or agent making the request or, in the case of a request made by an agent, the name of the officer on whose behalf the agent is acting;
(b)a description of the request that explains the need for disclosure of location information; or
(c)a declaration that disclosure of location information is needed based on the conditions described in subsection (1).
(3)A commercial mobile service may establish protocols by which the commercial mobile service voluntarily discloses phone location information.
(4)The department shall obtain direct contact information from all commercial mobile services authorized to do business in this state to facilitate a request from a law enforcement agency or a public safety answering point on behalf of a law enforcement agency for phone location information under this section. All commercial mobile services shall inform the department of any changes to their direct contact information. The department shall disseminate the direct contact information to each public safety answering point in this state.