Administrative Boundaries

Administrative Boundaries are legally documented and attributed jurisdictional boundaries. These boundaries define the rights, responsibilities, and interests on the land.

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• • Montana Department of Commerce: Census and Economic Information Center (CEIC)
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• • MSDI Boundary Map and App Gallery
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• Administrative Boundaries
• Managed Areas

About

Administrative Boundaries is not one dataset, but a collection of sub-themes. The Montana State Library's Administrative Boundaries theme lead works with data providers throughout the state to develop statewide boundary sub-themes. Sub-themes can be managed separately or cooperatively between MSL and the direct data provider. The majority of sub-themes are managed cooperatively and vertically integrated with the Public Land Survey System (CadNSDI Montana) where appropriate. The data is often created by the local stewards and provided to MSL. MSL acts primarily as an integrator, coordinator, and distributer of complete statewide boundary datasets.

Data and Documentation

Administrative Boundaries Framework News

• September 2024
  • Incorporated Places: annexations for Bozeman and Helena
  • Election Districts: updated boundaries as part of the Geo-Enabled Elections work for Community Council, Jury, Rural, and Fire
  • Precinct Splits: updated boundaries as part of the Geo-Enabled Elections work
  • Managed Areas: 
    • Updated GAP Status Fields from PAD-US 4.0
    • Added American Prairie lands
    • Updated US Fish and Wildlife Service lands
    • Updated Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks State Parks lands
      • Closures removed from the Managed Areas database:
      • 1 - MTFWP permanently closed the Pennington Bridge Fishing Access Site (MA_ID: 641) on the Big Hole River four miles south of Twin Bridges effective June 17, 2019;
      • 2 - MTFWP did not renew its lease with the MTDNRC for the Elmo Fishing Access Site (MA_ID: 567) on Flathead Lake. The lease expired February 29, 2020
• August 2024
  • Incorporated Places: annexations for Baker, Belgrade, Billings, Bozeman, Circle, Culbertson, Fort Benton, Helena, Kalispell, Missoula, and Whitefish
  • School Districts: abandonment and attachment of Molt Elem (LE 0852) to Broadview Elem (LE 0978) & Rapelje Elem (LE 0858)
  • Election Districts: updated boundaries as part of the Geo-Enabled Elections work 
• Spring 2024
  • Voting Precincts: includes the updates from the 34 counties that went through redistricting
  • County Commissioner Districts: includes updates from 22 counties following the 2020 Census
  • Incorporated Places: Added 2022 and 2023 Census BAS Annexations
  • Tax Increment Financing Districts: 2023 updates from Dept of Revenue
  • School Districts: FY2022-2023 enrollment numbers added
  • Weed Districts: Updated contact information 
  • Elections Districts - Updated following Redistricting
• November 2023
  • Voting Precincts (includes updates from recently redistricted counties), County Commissioner Districts (includes updates from recently redistricted counties), and Incorporated Places updates
• August 2023
  • Election District, Off Reservation Trust Land, and Incorporated Places updates
• May 2023
  • Election District, Voting Precinct, School District, and Incorporated Places updates
• April 2023
  • Election District boundary updates
  • Montana Legislative Districts, 2024-2032 now available
• January 2023
  • Election District boundaries including County Commissioner Districts mapped for all counties in Montana are now available in a file geodatabase or shapefiles
  • Incorporated Cities and Towns, Voting Precincts and School Districts were updated as part of the Geo-Enabled Elections work
• December 2022
  • Incorporated Cities and Towns: Belgrade, Belt, Big Timber, Billings, Bozeman, Darby, Hamilton, Hot Springs, Ismay, Kalispell, Laurel, Lewistown, Malta, Manhattan, Thompson Falls, West Yellowstone
  • School Districts: Spring Creek EL (0179) annexed into Broadus EL (0705) and S Y EL (0189); Boundary updates for school districts in Big Horn, Roosevelt, Powder River, Custer, Judith Basin counties; Added FY2022 Enrollment Numbers
• November 2022
  • Tax Increment Financing Districts: Terminated: Ramsay #2 (Silver Bow), Manchester Exit (Cascade), and Montana Milling (Cascade); Boundary Expansion: South Billings Boulevard (Yellowstone) and Columbia Falls URD (Flathead)
• March 2022
  • Incorporated Cities and Towns and School Districts were updated with the latest changes from Geo-Enabled Elections and the US Census Bureau School District Review Program (SDRP)
  • Tax Increment Financing Districts: Added Capital Hill Mall URD (Lewis and Clark), Pole Yard (Gallatin), and The WYE (Missoula)
• November 2021
  • Managed Areas were reviewed and updated. GAP Status Code field was added.
• August 2021
  • Incorporated Cities and Towns: Boundary updates for Sheridan with the boundary submitted for the FY2018 MLIA Grant for the Town of Sheridan
• July 2021
  • All Boundary Data Layers have been projected to the NAD83(2011) - WKID: 6514, aligned to the 2021 CadNSDI, and a new unique identifier field was added (ID_UK); View additional documentation that outlines the individual datasets impacted and additional technical details
  • Incorporated Cities and Towns: Boundary updates for Big Timber, Townsend, Malta, and Polson
  • Tribal Nations Reservations: Reviewed and updated boundaries following the U.S. Census Bureau; Added U.S. Census Bureau fields; Added new feature class with Off Reservation Trust Land
  • School Districts: Geyser EL (LE0472) was annexed into Geyser HS (LE0473) to form Geyser K-12 (LE0473); Boundary updates for Harlem HS (0031), Chinook HS (0029), and Turner (0045); Added FY2021 Enrollment Numbers
  • Weed Districts: Updated Weed District Coordinator Contact Information
  • Voting Precincts: Added 2020 U.S. Census Bureau attribute information
• April 2021
  • Incorporated Cities and Towns:Added Census BAS Annexations for 2019 and 2020; Boundary updates for: Baker, Billings, Bozeman, Circle, Columbia Falls, Darby, Deer Lodge, Drummond, Great Falls, Hamilton, Kalispell, Missoula, Ronan, Stevensville, Three Forks, Wolf Point
  • Voting Precincts: Aligned voting precincts to county boundaries
• November 2020​
  • Added new field: SOS Precinct ID, SOS Precinct Code, COUNTY NUMBER (alphabetical county code), and updated Precinct Names to match SOS
• October 2020
  • School Districts: Geyser EL (LE0472) was annexed into Geyser HS (LE0473) to form Geyser K-12 (LE0473); Updated the school district county superintendents table
• June 2020
  • Incorporated Cities and Towns: Updated Belgrade, Billings, Bozeman, Bridger, Deer Lodge, Great Falls, Hardin, Helena, Kalispell, Missoula, Plains, and Whitefish
  • Tax Increment Financing Districts (TIFD): Terminated Whitefish A (Flathead), Modified Lewistown TEDD (Fergus), Modified Helena Downtown URD (Lewis and Clark), Added BSB Harrison Ave S URD (Silver Bow), Added Wheatland TEDD (Broadwater), Added Downtown Kalispell URD (Flathead)
• February 2020
  • Published geometry and attribute updates Voting Precincts in Montana
  • Updated the school district enrollment tables with the FY2019 data from the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI)
• December 2019
  • Published new statewide dataset of the Voting Precincts in Montana
• November 2019
  • Updated the school district county superintendent table with data from the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI); Harlowton EL (LE0945) was annexed into Harlowton K-12 (LE0946); Update Charlo EL, Charlo HS, and St Ignatius K-12 boundary (T19N R20W Section 14); Update Missoula HS and Bigfork HS Districts; Update Upper West Shore EL; Update Box Elder EL, Cottonwood EL, Havre EL, North Star EL, and Rocky Boy EL
• May 2019
  • Incorporated Cities and Towns: Updated Circle Boundary; Added BAS_ID attribute and related table with Annexations and Legal Boundary Changes recorded through the US Census Bureau Boundary and Annexation Program (BAS)
• April 2019
  • Incorporated Cities and Towns geometry updates for Columbus and Dillon
  • ​Presented update on Administrative Boundaries at the 2019 Big Sky GeoCon in Butte, MT ( View Presentation)
  • Tax Increment Financing District (TIFD): Added Lockwood TEDD Expansion (Yellowstone), Helena URD (Lewis and Clark), Columbia Rising TEDD (Flathead), North Hamilton URD (Ravalli), Downtown Roundup URD (Musselshell), Miles City Downtown URD (Custer), Glacier Rail Park (Flathead), South Bozeman (Gallatin), Kootenai Business Park (Lincoln), and updated the Uptown Butte URD; Updated Years (Year Established, Year Expires) and added new field for Base Year from the Department of Revenue
• March 2019
  • Managed areas were reviewed and compared with the source datasets and updated in the database. See the SourceDate field for date that the source data was reviewed.
• February 2019
  • Geometry Updates: All datasets were adjusted to align with the latest CadNSDI Montana (PLSS) published November 20, 2018 and Cadastral datasets
  • School District Updates: Updated Gallatin, Yellowstone, Phillips, and Sanders County School District Boundaries; County Superintendent table updated; School District FY1991-2018 Enrollment updated
  • Incorporated Cities and Towns:
    • Geometry Updates: Billings, Bozeman, Circle, Columbia Falls, Great Falls, Hamilton, Helena, Kalispell, Laurel, Missoula, Stevensville, Thompson Falls, Whitefish
    • Brockton (Roosevelt County) was disincorporated on January 23, 2018
    • Browning (Glacier County) was disincorporated on September 26, 2018
• August 2018
  • Attribute Updates: Updated weed coordinator information from the Montana Weed Control Association web site.
  • School District Updates:
    • Added East Helena K-12
    • Added Lockwood K-12
    • Abandonment and attachment of Springdale EL to Livingston EL, Shields Valley EL, and McLeod EL
• July 2018
  • Attribute Updates:School District FY2018 Enrollment added, County Superintendent table updated, TIFD expiration dates
  • Geometry Updates
    • Tax Increment Financing District (TIFD): Ravalli County TEDD, Columbia Falls Industrial District TEDD, Columbia Falls Urban Renewal District
• April 2018
  • Attribute Updates: County, School District, Weed District, State Boundary
  • Geometry Updates
    • Incorporated Cities and Towns: Billings, Cascade, Great Falls, Havre, Helena, Libby, Livingston, Missoula, Sidney, Three Forks, Whitefish
    • Tax Increment Financing District (TIFD): Baker URD, Belgrade URD, Lewistown TEDD, Lockwood TEDD, North Park URD, South Butte TEDD
    • County, Weed District, School District, State
  • ​Presented update on Administrative Boundaries at the 2019 Big Sky GeoCon in Helena, MT ( View Presentation)
• January 2018
  • The BoundariesSPC and BoundariesWebMerc web map services have been updated on the test server. The production services will be updated on or around April 23, 2018. Please review the spreadsheet describing the updates and take immediate action to test map projects, map applications, etc. in preparation for the replacement of these services. You may need to point to the new services when they are replaced.
• December 2017
  • Geometry Updates: County Boundaries and Weed Districts updated
  • School District Updates:
    • Updates to Lodge Grass, Wyola, Spring Creek EL Boundaries
    • Updates to Lodge Grass, Power River County, and Hardin HS Boundaries
• November 2017
  • Geometry Updates: Crow Reservation Boundary updated
  • School District Updates:
    • Updates to Sanders County School District Boundaries
    • Updates to Malta and Whitewater K-12 Boundaries
    • Updates to Frazer and Lustre EL Boundaries
    • Updates to Amsterdam and Manhattan EL/HS Boundaries
    • Added FY17 enrollment data from Office of Public Instruction (OPI)
• October 2017
  • Geometry Updates: All datasets were adjusted to align with the latest CadNSDI Montana (PLSS) and Cadastral datasets published October 2017
  • County, County Line, Weed Control Districts:
    • LEWIS & CLARK renamed to LEWIS AND CLARK
  • School District Updates:
    • Abandonment and attachment of Shawmut EL (LE0904) to Harlowton EL (LE0945)
    • Updates to Ravalli County School District Boundaries
• September 2017
  • School District Updates:
    • Annexation of Plains EL (LE0802) to Plains HS (LE0803) to form Plains K-12 (LE0803)
• May 2017
  • Incorporated Cities and Towns schema updates: added Year Incorporated, Acres, and Square Miles
  • Geometry updates for the following Incorporated Cities and Towns: Belgrade, Billings, Bozeman, Columbia Falls, Conrad, Darby, Glasgow, Great Falls, Hamilton, Hardin, Helena, Kalispell, Lewistown, Miles City, Missoula, Stevensville, Three Forks, Twin Bridges, Whitefish
• January 2017
  • Update the FIPS Code in the Incorporated Cities & Towns database to the full seven digit code
• December 2016
  • The Managed Areas database has been updated with the latest data and adjusted to the latest CadNSDI Montana (PLSS) and Cadastral datasets published March 2016. In addition to shapefile format a file geodatabase is also now available for download. Both now include a symbology layer file with the download
• October 2016
  • Geometry Updates: All datasets were adjusted to align with the latest CadNSDI Montana (PLSS) and Cadastral datasets published March 2016
  • ​Tax Increment Financing District (TIFD): Geometry updates for the East Billings Urban Renewal District (EBURD)
  • School Districts updates: Updated the school district county superintendent and enrollment tables with the latest data from the Office of Public Instruction (OPI)
• September 2016
  • Geometry updates for the following Incorporated Cities and Towns: Billings, Bozeman, Broadview, Circle, Columbia Falls, Culbertson, Froid, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell, Laurel, Missoula, Polson, Poplar, Whitefish
  • Tax Increment Financing District (TIFD): geometry update for Livingston Urban Renewal District; added the Helena Railroad TIF District
  • School Districts Updates
    • Culbertson EL
    • Brockton EL
    • Brockton HS
    • Froid HS
    • Poplar HS
    • Culbertson HS
    • Bainville K-12 Schools
    • Annexation of Big Sandy EL (LE0137) to Big Sandy HS (LE0138) to form Big Sandy K-12 (LE0138)
    • Abandonment and attachment of Paradise EL (LE0808) to Plains EL (LE0802)
    • Abandonment and attachment of Cottonwood EL (LE0182) to Trail Creek EL (LE0177)
• January 2016
  • School District Updates
    • Warrick EL (LE0144) was dissolved into Big Sandy EL (LE0137)
    • Whitlash EL (LE0506) was dissolved into Chester-Joplin-Inverness EL (LE1236)
    • Deep Creek EL (LE1195) was dissolved into Cascade EL (LE0101)
    • Lennep EL (LE0568) was dissolved into White Sulphur Springs EL (LE0569)
    • White Sulphur Springs EL (LE0569) was annexed into White Sulphur Springs K-12 (LE0570)
• September 2015
  • Geometry Updates: Counties, Incorporated Cities and Towns, TIFDs, Weed Control Districts, and School Districts were adjusted to align with the July 2015 CadNSDI Montana (PLSS) and Cadastral datasets, which were adjusted using data from the following CadNSDI adjustment projects: Gallatin and Park
  • Added the Savage Elementary School District and combined the Warrick Elementary District with the Big Sandy Elementary School District. And, corrected school district names and Legal Entity (LE) identification numbers
  • Updated the Weed Coordinator contact information in Weed Control Districts