Article XII of the 1889 Montana Constitution established the Montana State Board of Equalization. Under this article, the Board was composed of the Governor, the Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, the State Auditor, and the Attorney General. Their duties included adjusting and equalizing the valuation of taxable property in existing counties, to oversee county boards of equalization, and to perform other duties as assigned by law.
In 1923, a constitutional amendment reorganized the Board. The new State Board of Equalization consisted of three members appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate; members were appointed for terms of six years. The reorganized Board was responsible for additional duties, including annually assessing the property of all railroads, telegraph and telephone lines, and electrical lines; adjusting the valuation of county property; supervising the administration of state tax laws; investigating and holding hearings on all suspected cases of non-compliance with state revenue laws; and recommending legislation for the better administration of fiscal laws.
In 1933, the Twenty-third Legislative Assembly passed the Montana Liquor Control Act, which established the state liquor control system as one of the nation's seventeen "monopoly" states. Within its monopoly, the state of Montana operated liquor stores, licensed individual purchases and retailers, exercised regulatory powers, and merchandised alcoholic beverages. The sale of beer was administered by the State Board of Equalization, while state liquor stores were under the jurisdiction of a board composed of the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State.
At the time of the enactment of the Liquor Control Act in 1933, only the sale of beer was permitted in Montana's taverns. In 1937, the passage of the Retail Liquor Act amended the 1933 legislation, permitting the sale of liquor-by-the-drink and packaged liquor by licensed taverns. Simultaneously, the administration of state liquor stores was transferred to the newly created Montana Liquor Control Board, which consisted of three members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. The first meeting of an appointive Liquor Control Board was held on April 5, 1937. The Liquor Control Board appointed an administrator who handled the day-today operation of the state liquor control system, but who was answerable to the board.
The Liquor Control Board employed a team of inspectors, also called examiners, who worked under a chief inspector and his assistants. The principal duty of the inspectors was to screen applicants for liquor licenses by making a thorough investigation of the applicant's eligibility under state regulations. The inspectors also made two or three annual, on-site inspections of the premises where beer and liquor licenses were in operation.
The Executive Reorganization Act of 1971 created the Montana Department of Revenue and abolished the Liquor Control Board and the State Board of Equalization. Duties of the Liquor Control Board were transferred to the newly created Liquor Control Division (now the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division) within the Department of Revenue. The duties of the Board of Equalization were transferred to both the Department of Revenue and the State Tax Appeal Board, which is administratively attached to the Department of Administration.
The Legal and Investigation Division was established in 1972. State publications for this time period alternate between listing this as one Division or as separate Divisions, i.e., Legal Division and Investigation Division. The Legal and Investigation Division oversaw the Investigation Bureau and Legal Bureau. The Investigation Bureau handled all the Department's compliance, investigatory, and enforcement needs. It consisted of three units: the General Revenue Investigation Unit, the Alcoholic Beverages Investigation Unit, and the Welfare Fraud Investigation Unit.
In 1975, the Investigation Bureau became the Investigation Division (later named the Investigations and Enforcement Division), consisting of five units: an Administrative Unit; a Welfare Fraud Unit; a Tax Fraud Bureau; an Alcoholic Beverage Control Bureau; and a Child Support Enforcement Bureau. In 1977, the duties of the Tax Fraud Bureau and the Child Support Enforcement Bureau were assigned to a new unit, named the General Investigation Bureau (locate unit) which was later called the Location and Collection Unit. By the early 1990s, the Investigations and Enforcement Division became the Office of Investigations, which operated within the Director’s Office. In the mid-1990s, the Office was Investigations was eliminated.
As of 2025, the Department of Revenue has seven Divisions: Director’s Office (which
oversees the Legal Services Office), the Tax, Policy and Research Unit, and Human
Resources, Business and Income Tax Division, Property Assessment Division, Alcoholic
Beverage Control Division, Information Management and Collection Division,
Technology Services Division, and Cannabis Control Division. To see a current list
of staff and Divisions, please visit the
This collection contains records from the various Divisions, Boards, and Predecessor Agencies of the Montana Department of Revenue. The Department of Revenue records were integrated under one collection number to help facilitate access and reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog.
To learn more detail about the records in each subgroup, please click on the links below in the arrangement section to be redirected to those finding aids.
This subgroup (1973-1981) consists of records from the Legal and Investigation Division, which oversaw the Legal Bureau and Investigation Bureau. In the mid 1970s, this Division split into two separate Divisions. Records in the Investigation Division include general correspondence, interoffice correspondence, minutes, news releases, organization, printed materials, reports, subject files, and miscellany. General correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent and subject. The folders titled "miscellaneous" include memoranda and outgoing correspondence, primarily of investigators pursuing liquor licensing and childcare cases. Reports include monthly, quarterly, semiannual, and/or annual reports.
The Legal Division records consist of subject files, compiled as a result of the Department of Revenue's proposal of changes in the Administrative Rules of Montana, including the minutes and testimony of hearings, correspondence, proposed legislation, and notes. These files concern the assessment of mining equipment, tax on cigarettes, legal procedures of wine distribution, coal taxation, etc.
This subgroup (1933-1962) consists of records from the Liquor Control Board. This Board was abolished following the state government reorganization in 1971 and its duties were transferred to the Department of Revenue’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Division. Records include interoffice correspondence, concerned primarily with the day-to-day operations of the MLC Board with its attorneys, board members, examiners, and other functionaries; general correspondence arranged alphabetically by correspondent and subject; case files which focus in large part on the court cases that determined the Board's regulatory powers and the limits on those powers; legal documents; printed material; reports; subject files; and miscellany.
This subgroup (1896-1972) contains records from the State Board of Equalization, predecessor agency of the Department of Revenue. The State Board of Equalization was abolished in 1973, and its duties were transferred to the Department of Revenue and the State Tax Appeal Board. Records consist of general correspondence, including opinions of the Attorney General; outgoing correspondence of the Chairman of the Board; financial records, including assessments of railroads and records of apportionments of assessments of railroads; legal documents, including a transcript of a hearing on beer licenses; minutes; press releases; reports; and speeches.
This collection is arranged into three subgroups, represented by the Divisions, Boards, and Predecessor Agencies of the Department of Revenue.
To learn more detail about the records in each subgroup, please click on the links below to be redirected to those finding aids.
Collection open for research.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
In 2024, the various collections of the Department of Revenue were integrated under one collection identifier, RS 504, in order to help facilitate access, reduce redundancy in the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives catalog, and to follow best archival practices.
Collections from the Department of Revenue's Divisions and Boards that were
previously treated as separate entities are now integrated into
Each of the links above will redirect the user to a specific subgroup
(Division/Board/Predecessor Agency) of the Department of Revenue. There may be some
overlap or inconsistencies in terms of which records are in which subgroup, as these
collections have
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Research Center catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.