2005 Montana Code Annotated - 17-8-411 — Costs and attorney fees.

     17-8-411. Costs and attorney fees. A governmental entity in an action in which its government attorney filed a civil action or intervened is entitled to its reasonable costs and attorney fees if the action is settled favorably for the governmental entity or the governmental entity prevails. In an action in which outside counsel represents a governmental entity, the costs and attorney fees awarded to a governmental entity must equal the outside counsel's charges reasonably incurred by the governmental entity for costs and attorney fees in prosecuting the action. In any other actions in which costs and attorney fees are awarded to a governmental entity, they must be calculated by reference to the hourly rate charged by the department of justice agency legal services bureau for the provision of legal services to state agencies, multiplied by the number of attorney hours devoted to the prosecution of the action, plus the actual cost of any expenses reasonably incurred in the prosecution of the action. A private citizen who is a plaintiff or coplaintiff is entitled to reasonable costs and attorney fees if the action is settled favorably for the governmental entity or the governmental entity prevails in the action. A person who is the subject of a civil action and who prevails in an action that is not settled and that the court finds was clearly frivolous or brought solely for harassment purposes is entitled to the person's reasonable costs and attorney fees, which must be equitably apportioned against the private citizen and governmental entity if a private citizen and a governmental entity were coplaintiffs.

     History: En. Sec. 11, Ch. 465, L. 2005.