Signed by Governor Greg Gianforte

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to amend and pass a bill that increases restrictions to prescriptive easements and requires they be filed with the state by the end of next year.

Highlights:

• Defines a “prescriptive easement” as a right to use the property of another that is acquired by open, exclusive, notorious, hostile, adverse, continuous, and uninterrupted use for 5 years (Sec. 2-1).

• Specifies a prescriptive easement cannot be acquired through (Sec. 2-2):

• Recreational use of surface waters, including:

• The streambeds underlying them;

• The banks up to the ordinary high-water mark; or

• Any portage over and around barriers; or

• The entering or crossing of private property:

• To reach surface waters; or

• To reach public property if reasonable, legal access to the public property is otherwise documented and deemed available within 1 mile of the alleged prescriptive easement access point to the public property; or

• A leasehold interest in the proposed servient tenement.

• Requires, for a prescriptive easement that has not been reduced to writing or that is the result of a court order, an individual or governmental entity claiming the prescriptive easement shall pay a $100 filing fee and file the following information with the regional office of the department of natural resources and conservation on a form prescribed by the department (Sec. 2-3.a):

• An affidavit setting forth the specific facts that satisfy each of the criteria in subsection (1); and

• A map that accurately depicts the location and nature of the public access prescriptive easement.

• Requires the form prescribed by the department to be filed no later than December 31, 2022. This date serves as a notice requirement only, and by its filing does not create any rights. A prescriptive easement filed may only be claimed by an individual or governmental entity. A party may challenge the validity of a claim of a prescriptive easement at any time (Sec. 2-3.b).

• Specifies the extent of a servitude is determined by the terms of the grant or the nature of the enjoyment by which it was acquired (Sec. 3-1)

• Specifies a servitude granted, either by the terms of the grant or by the nature of the enjoyment, to a local, state, or federal government body for administrative purposes does not create a right to use the servitude for any other purpose unless specifically provided for in writing in the grant (Sec. 3-2).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that increases restrictions to prescriptive easements and requires they be filed with the state by the end of next year.

Highlights:

• Defines a “prescriptive easement” as a right to use the property of another that is acquired by open, exclusive, notorious, hostile, adverse, continuous, and uninterrupted use for 5 years (Sec. 2-1).

• Specifies a prescriptive easement cannot be acquired through (Sec. 2-2):

• Recreational use of surface waters, including:

• The streambeds underlying them;

• The banks up to the ordinary high-water mark; or

• Any portage over and around barriers; or

• The entering or crossing of private property:

• To reach surface waters; or

• To reach public property if reasonable, legal access to the public property is otherwise documented and deemed available within 1 mile of the alleged prescriptive easement access point to the public property; or

• A leasehold interest in the proposed servient tenement.

• Requires, for a prescriptive easement that has not been reduced to writing or that is the result of a court order, an individual or governmental entity claiming the prescriptive easement shall pay a $100 filing fee and file the following information with the regional office of the department of natural resources and conservation on a form prescribed by the department (Sec. 2-3.a):

• An affidavit setting forth the specific facts that satisfy each of the criteria in subsection (1); and

• A map that accurately depicts the location and nature of the public access prescriptive easement.

• Requires the form prescribed by the department to be filed no later than December 31, 2022. This date serves as a notice requirement only, and by its filing does not create any rights. A prescriptive easement filed may only be claimed by an individual or governmental entity. A party may challenge the validity of a claim of a prescriptive easement at any time (Sec. 2-3.b).

• Specifies the extent of a servitude is determined by the terms of the grant or the nature of the enjoyment by which it was acquired (Sec. 3-1)

• Specifies a servitude granted, either by the terms of the grant or by the nature of the enjoyment, to a local, state, or federal government body for administrative purposes does not create a right to use the servitude for any other purpose unless specifically provided for in writing in the grant (Sec. 3-2).

Full Bill Text