45-8-111. Public nuisance. - Montana Statutes

     45-8-111. Public nuisance. (1) "Public nuisance" means:
     (a) a condition that endangers safety or health, is offensive to the senses, or obstructs the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community or neighborhood or by any considerable number of persons;
     (b) any premises where persons gather for the purpose of engaging in unlawful conduct; or
     (c) a condition that renders dangerous for passage any public highway or right-of-way or waters used by the public.
     (2) A person commits the offense of maintaining a public nuisance if the person knowingly creates, conducts, or maintains a public nuisance.
     (3) Any act that affects an entire community or neighborhood or any considerable number of persons, as specified in subsection (1)(a), is no less a nuisance because the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals is unequal.
     (4) An agricultural or farming operation, a place, an establishment, or a facility or any of its appurtenances or the operation of those things is not or does not become a public nuisance because of its normal operation as a result of changed residential or commercial conditions in or around its locality if the agricultural or farming operation, place, establishment, or facility has been in operation longer than the complaining resident has been in possession or commercial establishment has been in operation.
     (5) Noises resulting from the shooting activities at a shooting range during established hours of operation are not considered a public nuisance.
     (6) A person convicted of maintaining a public nuisance shall be fined not to exceed $500 or be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not to exceed 6 months, or both. Each day of the conduct constitutes a separate offense.

     History: En. 94-8-107 by Sec. 1, Ch. 513, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 30, Ch. 359, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 94-8-107(1) thru (4); amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 123, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 9, Ch. 415, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 1697, Ch. 56, L. 2009.