Montana § 20-25-1506 - Public Accountability

§ 20-25-1506. Public Accountability

Public accountability. (1) A public postsecondary institution may prepare a report to identify a course of action to be taken by the institution to implement the requirements of this part. (2) If a public postsecondary institution prepares a report pursuant to this section: (a) the report must be revised and republished whenever the public postsecondary institution makes any changes or updates to the policies and procedures related to free speech and expressive activity on campus; (b) the report must be posted to the public postsecondary institution's website. The report must be: (i) accessible within three links from the institution's website homepage; (ii) searchable by keywords and phrases; and (iii) accessible to the public without having to register or use a username, password, or other user identification. (c) the contents of the report must include: (i) a description of any barriers to or incidents of disruption of expressive activity on campus, including but not limited to any attempt to block or prohibit a speaker; (ii) the nature of the barrier or disruption; (iii) information about any disciplinary action taken against any member of the public who is responsible for a specific barrier or disruption, without disclosing personally identifiable information of any student found to be responsible; and (iv) any other information the public postsecondary institution considers valuable for the public to evaluate whether the free expression and expressive activity rights of all members of the public have been protected equally and enforced consistently with the provisions of this part. (3) (a) The public postsecondary institution may submit the report biennially to the governor and, as provided in 5-11-210 , to the legislature at least 30 days prior to the start of each regular legislative session. (b) If the public postsecondary institution is sued for an alleged violation of the complainant's first amendment rights, the public postsecondary institution may prepare and submit a supplementary report along with a copy of the complaint and any amended complaint to the governor and the legislature within 30 days of receiving the complaint or amended complaint.