Disorderly conduct is a separate, much less serious Montana offense than partner or family member assault (PFMA). It is defined in MCA § 45-8-101 and carries a maximum of 10 days in county jail and a $100 fine. In domestic cases it matters in two ways: it can be the original charge when police find an argument but no injury or threat, and it is one of the offenses a PFMA may be amended to as part of a negotiated resolution. Nothing guarantees that outcome. This page explains the differences so you can understand what is being discussed. It is part of our Montana Domestic Violence Guide.
What Disorderly Conduct Is
A person commits disorderly conduct if the person "knowingly disturbs the peace" by one of nine listed acts (MCA § 45-8-101(1)). The ones that come up in a domestic setting are:
- quarreling, challenging to fight, or fighting;
- making loud or unusual noises; and
- using threatening, profane, or abusive language.
The core of the offense is a disturbance of the peace. The statute does not require bodily injury, does not require that anyone was put in fear of injury, and does not require any particular relationship between the people involved.
PFMA and Disorderly Conduct Side by Side
| Point | PFMA, first offense (§ 45-5-206) | Disorderly conduct (§ 45-8-101) |
|---|---|---|
| What the State must prove | Bodily injury to, or reasonable apprehension of bodily injury in, a partner or family member | Knowingly disturbing the peace by one of the listed acts, such as quarreling, challenging to fight, or fighting |
| Relationship element | Yes | No |
| Maximum jail | 1 year in county jail | 10 days in county jail |
| Minimum jail in the statute | 24 hours | None |
| Fine | $100 to $1,000 | Up to $100 |
| Counseling required by the statute | Assessment plus a minimum of 40 hours | None in the statute |
| Counted as a prior for a later PFMA | Yes | Not on the list in § 45-5-206(3)(b) |
| Standing no contact order under § 45-5-209 | Yes | Not listed in that statute |
The PFMA column comes from MCA § 45-5-206(1), (3), and (4). A court sentencing someone for disorderly conduct under a plea agreement can still impose conditions the parties agreed to, so the absence of a statutory requirement does not mean a sentence will have no conditions.
Why the Difference in Elements Matters
The elements decide what a conviction means later. A PFMA conviction is a finding that a person caused bodily injury to, or reasonable apprehension of bodily injury in, a partner or family member. That finding is what other laws attach to.
- Later PFMA charges. A second PFMA carries a 72-hour minimum, and a third carries 30 days to 5 years. Only the convictions listed in MCA § 45-5-206(3)(b) are counted, and disorderly conduct is not among them. See how prior convictions count.
- Counseling. The 40-hour minimum in MCA § 45-5-206(4) applies to a person convicted of PFMA.
- Firearms. The federal ban for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence looks for an offense that has, as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(A)(ii)). The domestic relationship does not need to be an element of the state offense, as the U.S. Supreme Court held in United States v. Hayes (2009). So the label "PFMA" is not what matters. The elements of the offense of conviction are. The Ninth Circuit applied that test to PFMA itself in United States v. DeFrance, 124 F.4th 814 (9th Cir. 2024), and held that the bodily injury subsection, § 45-5-206(1)(a), does not meet the federal definition. It did not decide subsections (1)(b) or (1)(c). See does a Montana PFMA count under federal law.
That last point cuts both ways and is the reason for caution. The disorderly conduct statute is written in terms of disturbing the peace, not force against a person, but one of its listed acts is "fighting." How federal law treats a particular Montana conviction is a question to put to a lawyer before any plea, not after. See does a Montana PFMA count under federal law.
How an Amended Charge Comes About
A defendant cannot choose a different charge. The prosecutor decides what to file and whether to amend, and the judge decides whether to accept a plea agreement. An amendment is a negotiated result, and the things that bear on it are case specific: how strong the State's evidence is on injury or apprehension, whether there is a self-defense issue, the person's record, and the policies of the particular prosecutor's office. Practice varies from court to court.
Some cases are not candidates at all. Others are dismissed outright or go to trial. Our pages on plea agreements in PFMA cases and whether a PFMA can be dismissed or reduced cover the range of outcomes.
What a Reduced Charge Does Not Do
It does not erase the arrest or the police report. It does not end a civil order of protection, which is a separate case. It does not prevent the incident from being raised in a parenting dispute, where the facts can be raised whatever the conviction is called. And it is still a conviction entered on a guilty or no contest plea. See should I just plead guilty to PFMA before deciding anything.
Other Charges a PFMA May Be Compared With
Disorderly conduct is not the only alternative people ask about. Misdemeanor assault under MCA § 45-5-201 carries up to 6 months in county jail and a $500 fine, with no minimum, and it is also absent from the PFMA priors list. But its elements include causing bodily injury, which raises the federal firearm question directly. Our page on PFMA vs. assault compares those two.
A&M Law is a Missoula firm that defends PFMA charges in Western Montana. We will tell you what the evidence in your case realistically supports.
This page explains Montana law in general as of the 2025 Montana Code Annotated. It is not legal advice about your specific case.