26-1-201. Questions of law. Except as provided in Article II, section 7, of the Montana constitution, all questions of law, including the admissibility of testimony, the facts preliminary to such admission, the construction of statutes and other writings, and other rules of evidence, must be decided by the court.
Montana Code Annotated
Mont. Code Ann. § 26-1-201 (2026)
Questions Of Law
✓ laws through the 2025 session (checked Sept. 2026)
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
MT-LEGleg.mt.gov
JustiaTitle on Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
TITLE 26. EVIDENCE
CHAPTER 1. STATUTORY PROVISIONS ON EVIDENCE
Part 2. Province of Court and Jury
Questions Of Law
History: En. Sec. 3441, C. Civ. Proc. 1895; re-en. Sec. 8055, Rev. C. 1907; re-en. Sec. 10699, R.C.M. 1921; Cal. C. Civ. Proc. Sec. 2102; re-en. Sec. 10699, R.C.M. 1935; R.C.M. 1947, 93-2501-2; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 72, L. 1983.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 21
cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1980–2023 · leading case: Wadsworth v. State, 911 P.2d 1165 (Mont. 1996).
Wadsworth v. State, 911 P.2d 1165 (Mont. 1996). “Section 26-1-201, MCA, states that it is the province of the court to construe statutes and other writings.”
Draggin' Y Cattle Co. v. Junkermier, Clark, Campanella, Stevens, P.C., 2019 MT 97, 439 P.3d 935. “Section 26-1-201, MCA. See also M. R. Civ.”
Buhmann v. State, 2008 MT 465, 201 P.3d 70. “¶ 58 Under § 26-1-201, MCA, "all questions of law" are to be decided by the court, while questions of fact go to the jury pursuant to § 26-1-202, MCA.”
State v. Dasen, 2007 MT 87, 155 P.3d 1282. “Section 26-1-201, MCA. It was thus the District Court’s role, not the jury’s, to determine what “child” meant under the 2003 version of § 45-5-625, MCA.”
Madrid v. Zenchiku Land & Livestock, 2002 MT 172, 51 P.3d 1137. “2d 1164, 1169 ; § 26-1-201, MCA. We review a trial court's conclusions of law to determine whether its interpretation is correct.”
State v. DaSilva, 2011 MT 183, 258 P.3d 419. “The only “factual issue” that DaSilva identified was in reality a legal one, challenging whether the Judgment imposed a requirement to register in Washington.”
Stenberg v. Neel, 613 P.2d 1007 (Mont. 1980). “Section 26-1-201 ,MCA, states that all questions of law, including the construction of statutes, are to be decided by the court.”
Harwood v. Glacier Elec. Coop., Inc., 949 P.2d 651 (Mont. 1997). “” Section 26-1-201, MCA. Here, the District Court stated that “[the plaintiffs’ expert] will not be allowed to testify as to the legal burdens that [the NEC and the NESC] impose upon the Co-op .”
Comm'r of Political Practices for the State ex rel. Mangan v. Wittich, 2017 MT 210, 400 P.3d 735. “” Section 26-1-201, MCA. “Montana’s constitution clearly constitutes an ‘other writing,’ the interpretation of which is appropriately within the province of the judge[,] not the jury.”
In re the Est. of Edwards, 2017 MT 93, 393 P.3d 639. “Section 26-1-201, MCA. ¶78 Verone asserted the validity of the 2010 Trust, and Schulz and Degel did not object to the 2010 Trust’s validity other than by asserting that the 2012 Trust amended it.”
State v. Kyle, 628 P.2d 260 (Mont. 1980). “Section 26-1-201, MCA. Once that determination was made, the evidence was not in dispute; the defendant was either guilty of burglary or entitled to an acquittal.”
Matter of Est. of Smith, 749 P.2d 512 (Mont. 1988). “Additionally, defendant was prejudiced because the improper testimony concerned the sole and ultimate jury question.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.