Administrative Boundaries

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

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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.

This table has a list of the administrative boundary layers available for download and as web services, along with links to the metadata, and last updated date
Sub-theme Metadata Download Data/ Web Service Definition Data Steward Last Published
State Boundary of Montana; The Legal Description can be found in Article I of the original Constitution of the State of Montana, adopted in 1889. MSL July 2021
County Boundaries of the 56 counties in Montana (view list); Legal Descriptions MSL July 2021
Incorporated Cities/Towns Boundaries of the 127 incorporated cities and towns in Montana (view list) MSL March 2024
Tribal Nations Reservations and Off Reservation Trust Land Boundaries for the seven (7) Tribal Nations and Off Reservation Trust Land within Montana  MSL August 2023
School Districts Boundaries for Elementary, Secondary (High School), and K-12 (Unified) School Districts in Montana MSL January 2024
Congressional Districts, 2022-2030 Congressional Districts, mapped from the 2020 US Census Bureau blocks, are the 435 areas from which people are elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.  MSL/Montana Legislative Services Division November 2021
Legislative Districts, 2024-2032 The Montana Legislative House and Senate Districts, 2024-2032 MSL/Montana Legislative Services Division April 2023
Voting Precincts Voting Precincts in Montana MSL March 2024
Election Districts Election District boundaries for all counties in Montana: Wards, County Commissioner, Ambulance, Cemetery, Community Council, Drainage, Fire, Hospital, Irrigation, Library, Mosquito, Park, Resort, Rural, School, School Single Member Trustee, Study Commission, Soil Conservation, Special, Rural Improvement, Sewer, Water, Urban Transportation    MSL August 2023
County Commissioner Districts In compliance with MCA 7-4-2102 following the federal decennial census, the board of county commissioners shall divide their respective counties into as many commissioner districts as there are county commissioners and ensure that the districts are as compact and equal in population and area as possible.  MSL January 2024
Weed Management Districts Boundaries and Weed Coordinator info from the Montana Weed Control Association for the 56 Weed Districts in Montana MSL July 2021
Tax Increment Financing Districts (TIFD) Urban Renewal, Targeted Economic Development, Industrial, and Aerospace/ Transportation/ Technology District Boundaries; Levy Districts are linked via a related table MSL/Montana Department of Revenue February 2024
National Park Boundaries National Parks boundaries that include land in Montana MSL/National Park Service July 2021
Managed Areas Boundary of state, federal, local, and privately managed areas in Montana including wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, wildlife management areas, etc. MSL/Montana Natural Heritage Program November 2023
Conservation Districts Political subdivisions governed by a board of supervisors they help citizens conserve their soil, water, and other renewable natural resources. View the Open Data page for more information. Montana DNRC Contact DNRC for the latest version
Rural Fire Districts Structural Fire Departments (SFD) in Montana. View the Open Data page for more information Montana DNRC Contact DNRC for the latest version

Status of Administrative Boundaries Framework

NEWS:
  • 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
  • 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