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Home > Mansfield Center > Montana Constitution

The Montana Constitution Collection
 

The Montana Constitution Collection

The Montana Constitution Collection is a project of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center and the Blewett School of Law. It contains a record of Montana’s constitutional history leading through the 1972 Constitutional Convention.

In the rush to ratify a constitution while political conditions were favorable to statehood, the 1889 Constitutional Convention largely readopted the 1884 Constitutional Convention, which in turn borrowed heavily from the 1876 Colorado Constitution. As Professors Larry Elison and Fritz Snyder explain, “The 1889 Constitution was enacted more as a tool to achieve statehood than to provide a well-thought-out structure of governance for the new state.” The chairman of that Convention, William Andrews Clark, expressed the delegates’ understanding that given the inevitable changes the new state would undergo, “[T]he genius and wisdom of our successors will eliminate, supplement, and amend” the text of the new constitution.

Eight decades took their toll on the 1889 Constitution’s utility for a changing state. The Constitution, and, therefore, state government, became increasingly rigid and unresponsive to the people. In response, Montana became the only state from the so-called “class of 1889” states admitted in that year (Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming), and the only state in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest, to adopt a second constitution.

The 1960s reapportionment revolution reallocated political power from rural areas to cities and towns under the principle of one-person, one-vote. In 1967 the reconstituted Legislature commissioned a report “to determine if [the 1889 Constitution] is adequately serving the current needs of the people." The resulting Legislative Council Report concluded that just 48% of the sections in the 1889 Constitution were adequate in that they did not “present a major obstacle to effective government.” The 1969 Legislature responded to the Council’s work with the appointment of a Constitutional Revision Commission and a referendum on calling a constitutional convention. More than sixty-five percent of Montana voters approved the call for a Constitutional Convention in November 1970. The state elected 100 delegates to the Convention in November 1971. After three days of orientation after the elections, the delegates formally convened in Helena on January 17, 1972 and met for 54 days. The delegates signed the proposed constitution and adjourned on March 24, 1972. Just over half of Montanans voting on the new constitution ratified it in June 1972. All but the legislative apportionment provisions of the 1972 Constitution took effect on July 1, 1973.

The Convention record spreads across several sets of documents. A seven-volume set published in 1979 and 1981 by the Montana Legislative Council contains a core of materials: convention rules and personnel; committees and witness lists; delegate proposals and committee reports; and a verbatim transcript of floor debates and votes. Before the Convention, the professional staff of the Montana Constitutional Convention Commission collected and prepared a series of documents to inform the delegates: Papers containing primary sources and prior studies by the Legislative Council and Constitutional Revision Commission, Memos concerning the organization of a constitutional convention, and Studies of subject-matter areas likely to be addressed in a new constitution. This collection also includes several less prominent but important sources: committee minutes and testimony providing a source for several key proposals and debates, the original 1972 and subsequent voter information pamphlets explaining the plain meaning of provisions, and contemporaneous and more recent commentaries on the constitutional debates.

Adapted from Professor Anthony Johnstone's article: The Constitutional Initiative in Montana, 71 Mont. L. Rev. 325 (2010).

Use these links or the images below to browse the collection.

  • 1884 Constitution and Proceedings
  • 1889 Constitution and Proceedings
  • 1972 Commission Memos
  • 1972 Commission Papers
  • 1972 Commission Studies
  • 1972 Committee Minutes and Testimony
  • 1972 Committee Proposals
  • 1972 Constitutional Convention and Proceedings
  • 1972 Montana Constitution Context & Commentary
  • 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention Exhibit (hosted on Montana Memory Project)
  • 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention Oral Histories
  • "In the Crucible of Change" (hosted at Montana Tech)
  • Montana Constitution Wiki (Montana Constitutional Law course project)
  • Voter Information Pamphlets (1972-2020)
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  • Report Number 01: Constitutional Convention Enabling Act by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 01: Constitutional Convention Enabling Act

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This report includes a section-by-section analysis of the Constitutional Convention Enabling Act.

  • Report Number 01: Montana Constitution of 1884 by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 01: Montana Constitution of 1884

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This occasional paper republishes the Constitution of the State of Montana written by the Constitutional Convention of 1884 during its 27 day session and adopted by the people November 4, 1884 by a vote of 15,506 to 4,266.

  • Report Number 02: Enabling Act for the Montana Constitutional Convention of 1889 by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 02: Enabling Act for the Montana Constitutional Convention of 1889

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This occasional paper republishes, as amended, the act adopted by Congress February 22, 1889 which enabled the people of North and South Dakota, Washington and Montana to form constitutions prior to being admitted into the Union.

  • Report Number 03: Montana Territory Organic Act by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 03: Montana Territory Organic Act

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This occasional paper republishes the Organic Act that created in 1864 the Territory of Montana from parts of Idaho territory.

  • Report Number 03: The Constitution of Montana and the Constitution of the United States by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 03: The Constitution of Montana and the Constitution of the United States

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This report republishes the Montana Constitution as amended through the 1970 General Election, an index to the Montana Constitution, the Constitution of the United States as amended through the Twenty-Sixth Amendment adopted in 1971 and an index to the Constitution of the United States.

  • Report Number 04: A Collection of Readings on State Constitutions, Their Nature and Purpose by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 04: A Collection of Readings on State Constitutions, Their Nature and Purpose

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    The selection of readings is designed to provide a broad background for the delegates of contemporary thought on the nature and purpose of state constitutions.

  • Report Number 05: Comparison of the Montana Constitution with the Constitutions of Selected Other States by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 05: Comparison of the Montana Constitution with the Constitutions of Selected Other States

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This occasional paper republished a comparison of the Montana Constitution with the constitutions of Alaska, Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Model State Constitution of the National Municipal League.

  • Report Number 06: Legislative Council Report on the Montana Constitution by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 06: Legislative Council Report on the Montana Constitution

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    The occasional paper republished the 1968 Montana Legislative Council report on the Montana Constitution.

  • Report Number 06: New State Constitutions by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 06: New State Constitutions

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This report includes a collection of recent state constitutions.

  • Report Number 07: Constitutional Provisions Proposed by Constitution Revision Commission Subcommittees by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 07: Constitutional Provisions Proposed by Constitution Revision Commission Subcommittees

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This occasional paper republishes a working paper of the Constitution Revision Commission, the predecessor of the present Constitutional Convention Commission.

  • Report Number 10: Bill of Rights by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 10: Bill of Rights

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This study on the bill of rights was written by Rick Applegate, research analyst on the Commission staff.

  • Report Number 11: Suffrage and Elections by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 11: Suffrage and Elections

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This study on suffrage and elections was written by James Grady, a research analyst on the Commission staff.

  • Report Number 12: The Legislature by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 12: The Legislature

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This study on the legislature in Montana was written by Richard F. Bechtel, research analyst on the Commission staff.

  • Report Number 13: The Executive by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 13: The Executive

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This study on the executive in Montana was written by Karen D. Beck, research analyst on the Commission staff.

  • Report Number 14: The Judiciary by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 14: The Judiciary

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This study on the judiciary in Montana was written by Sandra R. Muckelston, research analyst.

  • Report Number 15: Taxation and Finance by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 15: Taxation and Finance

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This study on taxation and finance in Montana was written by Roger A. Barber, counsel and research analyst on the Commission staff.

  • Report Number 16: Local Government by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 16: Local Government

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This study on local government in Montana was written by Jerry R. Holloron, assistant director of the Commission staff.

  • Report Number 17: Education by Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    Report Number 17: Education

    Montana. Constitutional Convention Commission

    This study on local government in Montana was written by Bruce R. Sievers, research analyst on the Commission staff.

  • Proposed schedule of Judicial Committee by David L. Holland

    Proposed schedule of Judicial Committee

    David L. Holland

    This is the proposed charge for the Judiciary Committee.

  • Overview for the Public Health, Welfare, Labor and Industry Committee by Montana. Constitutional Convention (1971-1972)

    Overview for the Public Health, Welfare, Labor and Industry Committee

    Montana. Constitutional Convention (1971-1972)

    Overview of major subjects for consideration, problems, procedures, and information for witnesses for the Public Health, Welfare, Labor and Industry Committee.

 

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