Montana Code Annotated

Mont. Code Ann. § 7-32-2121 (2026)

Duties Of Sheriff

✓ current as of May 2026

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TITLE 7. LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER 32. LAW ENFORCEMENT

Part 21. Sheriff's Office

Duties Of Sheriff

7-32-2121. Duties of sheriff. The sheriff shall:

(1) preserve the peace;

(2) arrest and take before the nearest magistrate for examination all persons who attempt to commit or have committed a public offense;

(3) prevent and suppress all affrays, breaches of the peace, riots, and insurrections that may come to the sheriff's knowledge;

(4) perform the duties of a humane officer within the county with reference to the protection of animals;

(5) attend all courts, except municipal, justices', and city courts, at their respective terms or sessions held within the county and obey their lawful orders and directions;

(6) command the aid of as many inhabitants of the county as are necessary in the execution of the sheriff's duties;

(7) take charge of and keep the detention center and the inmates in the detention center, unless the detention center is operated by a private party under an agreement entered into under 7-32-2201 or by a detention center administrator or by another local government;

(8) endorse upon all notices and process the year, month, day, hour, and minute of receipt and issue to the person delivering them, on payment of fees, a certificate showing the names of the parties, the title of the paper, and the time of receipt;

(9) serve all process or notices in the manner prescribed by law;

(10) certify in writing upon the process or notices the manner and time of service or, if the sheriff fails to make service, the reasons for this failure, and return the papers without delay;

(11) take charge of and supervise search and rescue units and their officers whenever search and rescue units are called into service; and

(12) perform other duties that are required by law.

History: (1) thru (10)En. Sec. 4381, Pol. C. 1895; re-en. Sec. 3010, Rev. C. 1907; re-en. Sec. 4774, R.C.M. 1921; Cal. Pol. C. Sec. 4176; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 157, L. 1925; re-en. Sec. 4774, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 10, Ch. 535, L. 1975; Sec. 16-2702, R.C.M. 1947; (11)En. Sec. 1, Ch. 42, L. 1981; (12)En. Sec. 4401, Pol. C. 1895; re-en. Sec. 3030, Rev. C. 1907; re-en. Sec. 4794, R.C.M. 1921; Cal. Pol. C. Sec. 4193; re-en. Sec. 4794, R.C.M. 1935; Sec. 16-2722, R.C.M. 1947; R.C.M. 1947, 16-2702, 16-2722; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 263, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 42, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 447, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 9, Ch. 461, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 693, Ch. 61, L. 2007.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1991–2022 · leading case: State v. Keating, 949 P.2d 251 (Mont. 1997).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

State v. Keating, 949 P.2d 251 (Mont. 1997). · cites it 2× “Notwithstanding Keating’s repeated use of the term “discretionary function,” however, § 45-7-102(1)(a)(i), MCA (1995), defining threats in official matters, speaks to a threat made for the purpose of influencing an “exercise of discretion” by a public servant; it does not speak…”

Best v. Police Dep't of the Ci, 2000 MT 97 (Mont. 2000). · cites it 2× “; § 7-32-2121(5), MCA. Indeed, as the Citizens point out, municipal police are under the jurisdiction of courts based not on a court’s jurisdiction over their persons, but because police departments are “chargeable with an independently existing duty to enforce the law.”

Commonwealth v. Leet, 585 A.2d 1033 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1991). · cites it 2× “1989)); Montana, (Mont.Code Ann. § 7-32-2121(2) (1989)); Nebraska (Neb.”

Printz v. United States, 854 F. Supp. 1503 (D. Mont. 1994). · cites it 2× “Mont.Code Ann. §§ 7-32-2121(12) and 2-16-211(1).”

Edwards v. Cascade Co. Sher, 2009 MT 451 (Mont. 2009). · cites it 2× “” The Court further notes the “Duties of Sheriff’ are addressed in § 7-32-2121, MCA. 5 the sheriff” is not defined in the CBA.”

Breton v. Lake Cnty. (D. Mont. 2022). “; and state statutory law relating to the operation and maintenance of jails and the rights of prisoners, including MCA §§ 7-32-2121; 7— 32-2201; 7-32-2204, 7-32-2205; 7-32—22334; 45-5—204; 46-18-101; and 46— 18-801.”

— Mont. Code Ann. § 7-32-2121(12) — 1 case

Printz v. United States, 854 F. Supp. 1503 (D. Mont. 1994). “Mont.Code Ann. §§ 7-32-2121(12) and 2-16-211(1).”

— Mont. Code Ann. § 7-32-2121(2) — 1 case

Commonwealth v. Leet, 585 A.2d 1033 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1991). “1989)); Montana, (Mont.Code Ann. § 7-32-2121(2) (1989)); Nebraska (Neb.”

— Mont. Code Ann. § 7-32-2121(5) — 1 case

Best v. Police Dep't of the Ci, 2000 MT 97 (Mont. 2000). “; § 7-32-2121(5), MCA. Indeed, as the Citizens point out, municipal police are under the jurisdiction of courts based not on a court’s jurisdiction over their persons, but because police departments are “chargeable with an independently existing duty to enforce the law.”

— Mont. Code Ann. § 7-32-2121(9) — 1 case

State v. Keating, 949 P.2d 251 (Mont. 1997). “Notwithstanding Keating’s repeated use of the term “discretionary function,” however, § 45-7-102(1)(a)(i), MCA (1995), defining threats in official matters, speaks to a threat made for the purpose of influencing an “exercise of discretion” by a public servant; it does not speak…”

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.