46-18-1109. Procedure. (1) The court must make its determination for an expungement on a preponderance of the evidence.

Ask a criminal law question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a criminal defense lawyer and protect your rights.

Terms Used In Montana Code 46-18-1109

  • Court: means a place where justice is judicially administered and includes the judge of the court. See Montana Code 46-1-202
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • expungement: means to permanently destroy, delete, or erase a record of an offense from the criminal history record information system maintained by the department of justice in a manner that is appropriate for the record's physical or electronic form. See Montana Code 46-18-1103

(2)A presumption in favor of expungement may be overcome upon a determination that the interests of public safety demand dismissal.

(3)If a representative of a prosecution office appears, the representative must be given an opportunity to respond.

(4)If a victim appears, the victim must be given an opportunity to respond.

(5)(a) The rules of evidence do not apply in an expungement hearing.

(b)The court may exclude irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence.