Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 44 > Chapter 5 > Part 1 - General Provisions

• Administration of criminal justice: means the performance of any of the following activities: detection, apprehension, detention, pretrial release, posttrial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision, or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders. See Montana Code 44-5-103
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Criminal history record information: means information about individuals collected by criminal justice agencies consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests; detentions; the filing of complaints, indictments, or informations and dispositions arising from complaints, indictments, or informations; sentences; correctional status; and release. See Montana Code 44-5-103
• Criminal intelligence information: means information associated with an identifiable individual, group, organization, or event compiled by a criminal justice agency:

  (i)in the course of conducting an investigation relating to a major criminal conspiracy, projecting potential criminal operation, or producing an estimate of future major criminal activities; or

  (ii)in relation to the reliability of information, including information derived from reports of informants or investigators or from any type of surveillance. See Montana Code 44-5-103

• Criminal investigative information: means information associated with an individual, group, organization, or event compiled by a criminal justice agency in the course of conducting an investigation of a crime or crimes. See Montana Code 44-5-103
• Criminal justice agency: means :

  (a)any court with criminal jurisdiction;

  (b)any federal, state, or local government agency designated by statute or by a governor's executive order to perform as its principal function the administration of criminal justice, including a governmental fire agency organized under Title 7, chapter 33, or a fire marshal who conducts criminal investigations of fires;

  (c)any local government agency not included under subsection (7)(b) that performs as its principal function the administration of criminal justice pursuant to an ordinance or local executive order; or

  (d)any agency of a foreign nation that has been designated by that nation's law or chief executive officer to perform as its principal function the administration of criminal justice and that has been approved for the receipt of criminal justice information by the Montana attorney general, who may consult with the United States department of justice. See Montana Code 44-5-103

• Criminal justice information: means information relating to criminal justice collected, processed, or preserved by a criminal justice agency. See Montana Code 44-5-103
• Disposition: means information disclosing that criminal proceedings against an individual have terminated and describing the nature of the termination or information relating to sentencing, correctional supervision, release from correctional supervision, the outcome of appellate or collateral review of criminal proceedings, or executive clemency. See Montana Code 44-5-103
• Dissemination: means the communication or transfer of criminal justice information to individuals or agencies other than the criminal justice agency that maintains the information. See Montana Code 44-5-103
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Public criminal justice information: means :

  (a)information made public by law;

  (b)information of court records and proceedings;

  (c)information of convictions, deferred sentences, and deferred prosecutions;

  (d)information of postconviction proceedings and status;

  (e)information originated by a criminal justice agency, including:

  (i)initial offense reports;

  (ii)initial arrest records, including booking photographs;

  (iii)bail records; and

  (iv)daily jail occupancy rosters;

  (f)information considered necessary by a criminal justice agency to secure public assistance in the apprehension of a suspect; or

  (g)statistical information. See Montana Code 44-5-103

• 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
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201