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Missoula County to formalize community councils by ordinance; Dec. 4 hearing set, adoption targeted Jan. 8, 2026
Summary
County staff told community council members the Montana Code Annotated requires councils be established by county ordinance rather than resolution. The county will hold a Dec. 4 public hearing and is targeting a January 2026 adoption; operational changes (county emails, archived social media, finance processes) will be phased in.
Missoula County officials told community council members on Nov. 19 that the county will replace the current resolution-based formation of community councils with a county ordinance to comply with the Montana Code Annotated.
Chris Lonsbury, Missoula County’s chief administrative officer, said the change is required by state law and is intended to standardize how councils are created and governed and to make operational processes more consistent. "We need to establish community councils through the county ordinance process, as opposed to the county resolution process," he said. He told the meeting the county plans to present the ordinance for a public hearing in December and is targeting formal adoption in January 2026 because ordinances require two hearings.
Why it matters: the ordinance would formalize the county’s current practice of…
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