Montana Code 46-18-401. Consecutive sentences
46-18-401. Consecutive sentences. (1) Unless the judge otherwise orders:
Terms Used In Montana Code 46-18-401
- Court: means a place where justice is judicially administered and includes the judge of the court. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Judge: means a person who is vested by law with the power to perform judicial functions. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Offense: means a violation of any penal statute of this state or any ordinance of its political subdivisions. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Probation: means release by the court without imprisonment of a defendant found guilty of a crime. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- Sentence: means the judicial disposition of a criminal proceeding upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or upon a verdict or finding of guilty. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(a)whenever a person serving a term of commitment imposed by a court in this state is committed for another offense, the shorter term or shorter remaining term may not be merged in the other term; and
(b)whenever a person under suspended sentence or on probation for an offense committed in this state is sentenced for another offense, the period still to be served on suspended sentence or probation may not be merged in any new sentence of commitment or probation.
(2)The court, whether or not it merges the sentences, shall immediately furnish each of the other courts and the penal institutions in which the defendant is confined under sentence with authenticated copies of its sentence, which must cite any sentence that is merged.
(3)If an unexpired sentence is merged pursuant to subsection (1), the court that imposed the sentence shall modify it in accordance with the effect of the merger.
(4)Separate sentences for two or more offenses must run consecutively unless the court otherwise orders.