What an expired-registration ticket costs in Montana

Montana registrations run on the month shown on your plate decal. Under MCA 61-3-311(2) a registration legally expires on the last day of the month before that month (if the decal shows June, it expired May 31), and MCA 61-3-312, whose title includes “grace period”, treats a renewal as on time if you pay by the last day of the decal month (61-3-312(1) and (5)). The Motor Vehicle Division’s own rule, ARM 23.3.701 (adopted in 1975 under a statute since repealed, and still listed as active), sets an earlier date: it calls the 1st to the 25th of that month a grace period and says a vehicle not registered by the 25th is in violation of law after that. Whether you may lawfully drive during the decal month itself is not settled: MCA 61-3-301(1)(a) bars operating a vehicle that is not properly registered, 61-3-312 makes the renewal on time without saying the vehicle may be driven meanwhile, and the rule’s 25th deadline conflicts with the statute’s month-end date. Once the decal month is over, driving is the misdemeanor charged as Operating With Expired Registration, Failure to Reregister (61-3-312), punishable under MCA 61-3-601 by a fine of up to $500, with no minimum. The amount is not fixed by statute. The Montana Supreme Court Recommended Bond Schedule (January 2026 edition, approved by Supreme Court order in March 2026) lists that charge at an $85 bond, which includes $35 in surcharges, so $50 of it is the fine; it lists operating a vehicle that has not been properly registered (61-3-301(1)(a)) at the same $85, so the amount is the same if your ticket cites that section. The order calls the schedule recommended only and says it does not limit the discretion of the judge or justice of the peace to set a lesser or greater bond (citing MCA 46-9-301), so check the amount on your ticket or with the court named on it. The $35 is three statutory charges imposed on conviction or on forfeiture of bond: $15 for each misdemeanor charge (MCA 46-18-236(1)(a)), a $10 court information technology surcharge (3-1-317) and a $10 surcharge on criminal convictions in courts of limited jurisdiction (3-1-318, labeled MLEA on the schedule). The schedule does not list the charge as one where you must appear, and the Montana courts’ online payment system takes traffic ticket payments. If you contest it and are convicted, the judge sets the fine anywhere up to $500 and the same $35 is added. Renewing late carries no DMV late fee: none appears in the registration fee statute (MCA 61-3-321), the renewal statute (61-3-312), the original registration statute (61-3-303), the tax and fee sections 61-3-501, 61-3-537 and 61-3-562, or the MVD’s Vehicle Registration, Light Vehicle Registration and Fees, and FAQ pages (all searched in October 2026); the only late fee the MVD FAQ mentions is for transferring title more than 40 days after buying a vehicle. The lapsed months are not given back, though: a renewal keeps the registration period originally assigned to the vehicle (61-3-312(4)), so it still runs out in your usual month.