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Mont. Code Ann. § 18-1-404

This is the official text of Mont. Code Ann. § 18-1-404, part of Montana’s Code Ann — part of the compiled statutory law of Montana, published by the state as "Code Ann." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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18-1-404 Liability of state -- interest -- costs

Official statutory text

18-1-404 . Liability of state -- interest -- costs. (1) (a) The state of Montana is liable in respect to any contract entered into in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances, except the state of Montana is not liable for punitive damages.

(b) The state of Montana is liable for interest from the date on which the payment on the contract became due. This liability is retroactive, within the meaning of 1-2-109 , and applies to any contract in effect or an action pending on a contract on or after May 1, 1997. If the contract is subject to a good faith dispute brought before a government agency or before a court, the interest rate is 10% simple interest each year, whether due before or after a decision by the government agency or court. If the contract does not specify when interest is payable before a decision, interest must be paid at the time provided in 17-8-242 (2). If the contract is not subject to a good faith dispute brought before a government agency or before a court, the interest rate is governed by 17-8-242 .

(2) Costs may be allowed as provided in 25-10-711 . In all other cases, costs must be allowed in all courts to the successful claimant to the same extent as if the state of Montana were a private litigant. The costs must include attorney fees. The liability for attorney fees is retroactive, within the meaning of 1-2-109 , and applies to any contract in effect or an action pending on a contract on or after May 1, 1997.

(3) This section does not apply to a contract governed by Title 19.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.