Montana alcohol laws
What Montana has enacted on alcohol, what each law requires, and what the bills still moving would do. Montana is one of 47 states that enacted an alcohol law in the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
- Bills in scope
- 53bills in scope
- Past committee
- 16past committee
- Most recent action
- 27 May 2025most recent action
Alcohol laws enacted in Montana
16 alcohol laws enacted in the Montana Legislature in the 2025 and 2026 sessions, newest first. Each links to the legislature's own page.
What it requires: Licensed retailers with all-beverages or golf course licenses must pay a $100 application fee for each additional building or structure where they sell alcoholic beverages beyond their main premises. Guest ranch licensees must submit premises floorplans and pay $100 per additional building. Resort licensees may use alternate storage facilities upon application and $100 fee.
What it requires: Breweries, beer importers, wineries, and wine importers must enter written agreements of distributorship with distributors specifying territory, brands, pricing authority, and termination procedures. Distributors must maintain service obligations, call on retailers regularly, and file agreements with the department. Distributors cannot have financial interests in retailers.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise
What it requires: A Montana distillery licensee may issue or sell warehouse receipts for liquor stored at its licensed premises within bonded portions. Warehouse receipts may be resold by holders to any person, and distilleries or holders may use intermediary businesses to market and manage warehouse receipt sales. Ownership of warehouse receipts does not constitute ownership interest in the distillery business or license.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise
What it requires: An enlisted persons', noncommissioned officers', or officers' club located on a state or federal military reservation or a post of a nationally chartered veterans' organization or a lodge of a recognized national fraternal organization may not offer gambling under Title 23, chapter 5, parts 3, 5, or 6.
Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: An edible product containing a hemp product containing total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may not be sold to a consumer in the state, unless authorized as a food or drug by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Hemp and THC beverages
What it requires: Licensed retailers must maintain adequate control over alcoholic beverages to prevent self-service, except that customers may self-pour beer and wine after a licensee or employee provides it in large containers, or through department-approved electronic devices with predetermined limits that are monitored by licensee staff to prevent overservice.
Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: A continuing care retirement community must apply to the department for a limited all-beverages license, pay a $500 application fee, maintain a central dining area, serve alcohol only between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m., ensure servers are at least 18 years old and complete responsible server training, and restrict purchases to residents or their guests.
Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: A licensee may compensate a concessionaire based on a percentage of gross or net alcoholic beverage sales, a percentage of employee overhead, or a fixed dollar amount. A licensee must retain ultimate control over the license, including ordering, purchasing, sale, and service of alcoholic beverages, and must reconcile proceeds monthly.
Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: The department of revenue may not deny or withhold approval of a transfer of an alcoholic beverage license to a purchaser solely because the seller owes outstanding taxes, penalties, or interest. Proceeds from the sale are subject to existing liens or warrants the department has filed against the seller.
Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: Persons under 21 years of age must not knowingly consume, use, possess, or distribute alcoholic beverages, marijuana, or other intoxicating substances. Persons under 21 must not attempt to purchase these substances. Parents or guardians of convicted minors under 18 must complete substance abuse information courses.
Underage sales and liability
What it requires: Businesses that scan physical or digital government or tribal-issued identification to determine age for age-restricted items must use data only to determine age, may not transfer or sell that data, and must permanently delete it within 180 days. Sellers of tobacco products must require presentation of physical or digital identification if age is in reasonable doubt.
Underage sales and liability
What it requires: The department shall certify server and sales training programs that include procedures for checking identification, including government-certified digital identification cards. Any person may not fraudulently misrepresent age, falsely procure, or alter any identification card, including government-certified digital identification cards.
Underage sales and liability
What it requires: The department shall certify two classes of server and sales training programs: one for employees at licensed locations providing on-premises alcohol consumption, and one for employees of licensees providing only off-premises consumption. The off-premises program must be completed within at least half the time required for the on-premises program. The department may not provide such training programs itself.
Underage sales and liability
What it requires: Persons holding security interests in alcoholic beverage licenses must notify the department within 7 days of a licensee's default and either apply to transfer the license or place it on nonuse status. Regulated lenders may obtain security interests in licenses using standard commercial loan documentation. Investigations of gambling license applications may only pursue persons with ownership interests in the license.
Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: Wholesalers must not sell beer to the public except as provided in section 16-3-316. Licensed retailers must not purchase beer or wine except from breweries, wineries, or wholesalers. Persons holding security interests in alcoholic beverage licenses must notify the department within 7 days of licensee default and either apply for license transfer or place the license on nonuse status, transferring ownership within 180 days.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise, Licensing and retail permits
What it requires: Third-party delivery licensees must meet off-premises retail licensee requirements, obtain a license from the Department of Revenue, and employ drivers aged 21+ with valid identification who have not been convicted of felonies or DUI offenses in the past 7 years and have completed responsible server and delivery training. Off-premises retail licensees must sell only to end consumers for personal use, not resale, and retain exclusive authority over product selection and pricing.
Alcohol in Montana, by topic
Licensing and retail permits
19 bills, 7 enacted. Enacted in 41 states.
Underage sales and liability
9 bills, 4 enacted. Enacted in 16 states.
Three-tier, distribution and franchise
9 bills, 3 enacted. Enacted in 23 states.
Hemp and THC beverages
4 bills, 1 enacted. Enacted in 9 states.
Excise taxes and fees
2 bills. Enacted in 19 states.
Direct-to-consumer shipping and delivery
1 bill. Enacted in 12 states.
Alcohol bills in Montana
The bills not yet law, furthest along first, with what each would do.
16Enacted
37Introduced or inactive
53 bills in scope
Introduced or inactive
25 of 37 shown
What it would do: Prohibits selling kratom products to persons under 21 and restricts kratom products containing more than 2% 7-hydroxymitragynine in alkaloid fraction, synthesized material, dangerous substances, or combustible/vaporizable/injectable forms. Allows entities serving fresh kratom meeting these requirements and prohibits state and local governments from prohibiting such entities.
What it would do: Creates a cigar bar room alcoholic beverage endorsement for all-beverages licensees with gaming licenses, permitting smoking of premium cigars in a separate enclosed space with specific ventilation requirements and exempting such establishments from clean indoor air act prohibitions. Requires the Department of Justice to study Montana's gaming industry by December 1, 2026.
What it would do: Amends Montana drug laws to cap THC concentration at 15% total THC for all marijuana products sold at dispensaries, and reduces the maximum THC per package for flower to 15% total potential psychoactive THC.
What it would do: Allows persons aged 18-20 to possess and consume beer or table wine with parental, guardian, or spousal consent and presence, if their county or local government opts in by ordinance or resolution. Amends related alcohol statutes to reflect this exception.
What it would do: Creates a new Department of Health Services and transfers human services functions including developmental disabilities, mental health, chemical dependency, and veterans' long-term care services from the Department of Public Health and Human Services to the new department, effective July 1, 2025.
What it would do: Increases the required food sales ratio for restaurant beer and wine licenses from 65% to 70% of gross income, allows licensees to choose their own operating hours within 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., and requires licensees to notify the department before changing serving hours.
What it would do: Revises Montana alcohol laws to allow certain licensees to sell alcoholic beverages in additional structures on their premises, including golf courses, hotels, and guest ranches, with specified application fees of $100 per area, and permits on-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages not sold at the licensed premises within resort areas.
What it would do: Creates a new Department of Health Services and transfers human services functions including developmental disabilities, mental health, chemical dependency, and veterans' long-term care services from the Department of Public Health and Human Services to the new department, effective July 1, 2025.
What it would do: Revises Montana alcohol license definitions and requires applicants for specified alcohol licenses, individuals meeting ownership requirements, and location managers to submit fingerprints for background checks by the Department of Justice and FBI.
What it would do: Amends Montana drug law to cap THC concentration at 15% total THC for all marijuana products sold at dispensaries, reduces flower THC potency from 35% to 15%, and allows higher potency sales only to registered medical cardholders.
What it would do: Prohibits consumption of intoxicating beverages or products not specifically authorized and regulated in Montana as a misdemeanor. Revises hemp and marijuana definitions, places hemp products under Department of Revenue regulation, and restricts THC product sales to licensed manufacturers and dispensaries.
What it would do: Prohibits enlisted persons', noncommissioned officers', or officers' clubs located on state or federal military reservations or posts of nationally chartered veterans' organizations or lodges of recognized national fraternal organizations from offering gambling under Title 23, chapter 5, parts 3, 5, or 6.
Showing the 25 furthest along of 37. Subscribers see all of them, filtered and searchable. Bill titles link to the Montana Legislature's own page.
What counts as alcohol legislation
In scope: Direct-to-consumer shipping and delivery; three-tier, distribution and franchise; licensing and retail permits; excise taxes and fees; hemp and THC beverages; and underage sales and liability.
Questions
Does Montana have an alcohol law?
Yes. Montana enacted 16 alcohol laws in the 2025 and 2026 sessions, among them HB 882, HB 86 and HB 549. Each is listed on this page with what it requires.
What does Montana legislate on most in alcohol?
Licensing and retail permits (19 bills), Underage sales and liability (9 bills) and Three-tier, distribution and franchise (9 bills).
Are these summaries reviewed by a lawyer?
No. Which bills count as Alcohol bills, and the line on what each law requires or each bill would do, are drafted by software from the bill's own text and not reviewed by an attorney. Every bill links to the legislature's own record: read the text before relying on it. The list covers bills from the 2025 and 2026 sessions.
Other practice areas in Montana
- AI in Montana39
- Cannabis in Montana68
- Children's Online Safety in Montana9
- Cybersecurity in Montana1
- Data center and energy in Montana11
- Data Privacy in Montana47
- Employment in Montana77
- Healthcare in Montana266
- Insurance in Montana155
- Intellectual Property in Montana8
- Packaging and PFAS in Montana7
- Payments and fintech in Montana12
- Rental housing in Montana59
- Tobacco and nicotine in Montana20
- Transportation in Montana20
- All jurisdictions
Alcohol legislation in other jurisdictions
52 more currently hold bills in this tracker
- Massachusetts153
- Maryland142
- New York118
- New Jersey114
- Mississippi56
- Texas49
- West Virginia48
- Oklahoma44
- Michigan39
- Pennsylvania38
- Iowa36
- Virginia33
- Illinois32
- Missouri32
- California31
- Hawaii30
- Rhode Island27
- South Carolina27
- Connecticut25
- Tennessee25
- Washington25
- Florida24
- Indiana24
- New Hampshire24
- Kentucky20
- Louisiana20
- Maine18
- Alabama17
- Arkansas16
- Delaware16
- Congress16
- Minnesota15
- North Carolina15
- Nebraska15
- Arizona14
- Georgia13
- Idaho13
- Vermont13
- Kansas11
- Colorado10
- New Mexico10
- Oregon10
- District of Columbia9
- Ohio9
- South Dakota9
- Alaska7
- North Dakota6
- Nevada6
- Utah6
- Wisconsin6
- Puerto Rico3
- Wyoming3
Know when Montana's alcohol law changes
An alert when a bill moves, and one report a month on what changed in every state and Congress.