2-6-1013: Preservation of public records -- possession of public records.

(1) All public records are and remain the property of the public agency possessing the records. The public records must be delivered by outgoing public officers and employees to their successors and must be preserved, stored, transferred, destroyed, or disposed of and otherwise managed only in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(2) If an outgoing public officer or employee refuses or fails to deliver to the current public officer or employee any public records that pertain to that public office, the current public officer or employee may file a complaint in the district court of the county where the outgoing public officer or employee resides, pursuant to the Montana Rules of Civil Procedure, to compel the outgoing public officer or employee to deliver any public records still in the outgoing public officer or employee's possession to the current public officer or employee.