Montana § 41-5-1402 - Petition -- Form And Content

§ 41-5-1402. Petition -- Form And Content

Petition -- form and content. (1) A petition initiating proceedings under this chapter must be signed by the county attorney, must be entitled "In the Matter of...., a youth", and must set forth with specificity: (a) the facts necessary to invoke the jurisdiction of the court, together with a statement alleging the youth to be a delinquent youth or a youth in need of intervention; (b) the charge of an offense, that must: (i) state the name of the offense; (ii) cite in customary form the statute, rule, or other provisions of law that the youth is alleged to have violated; (iii) state the facts constituting the offense in ordinary and concise language and in a manner that enables a person of common understanding to know what is intended; and (iv) state the time and place of the offense as definitely as possible; (c) the name, birth date, and residence address of the youth; (d) the names and residence addresses of the parents, guardian, or spouse of the youth and, if the parents, guardian, or spouse do not reside or cannot be found within the state or if there is none, the adult relative residing nearest to the court; (e) whether the youth is in detention, a youth assessment center, or shelter care and, if so, the place of detention, assessment, or shelter care and the time that the youth was detained or sheltered; (f) if any of the matters required to be set forth by this section are not known, a statement of those matters and the fact that they are not known; and (g) a list of witnesses to be used in proving the commission of the offense or offenses charged in the petition, together with their residence addresses. The names and addresses of any witnesses discovered after the filing of the petition must be furnished to the youth upon request. (2) When a county attorney files a delinquency petition alleging that a youth committed an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult and that is transferable under 41-5-206 or in which a youth 12 years of age or older allegedly used a firearm, the county attorney shall indicate in the petition whether the county attorney designates the proceeding an extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution. When the county attorney files a delinquency petition alleging that a youth committed any other offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult, the county attorney may request that the court designate the proceeding an extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution.