Montana Historical Society
Archives
RS 343_RS 504
Montana. Department of
Revenue
Montana Department of Revenue, Legal and Investigation
Division records
1973-1981
1.5 linear ft
This collection is a subgroup
(former Division) of the Montana Department of Revenue records, RS 504. As of 2025, this
Division(s) is defunct. The Office of Investigation (formerly the Investigation Division)
was abolished in the 1990s. Current legal responsibilities fall under DOR's Legal Services
Office, which operates within the Director's Office. Please see the primary finding aid for
more Montana
Department of Revenue records. These records (1973-1981) consist of two
subgroups: the Investigation (alternatively called Enforcement) Division and the Legal Division. The
Investigation Division records contain general and interoffice correspondence, minutes, news
releases, organization, printed materials, reports, subject files, and miscellany. The Legal
Division contains subject files.
34:4-7
English
The Montana State Board of Equalization, created in 1889, was the main state tax and
revenue collecting authority until the creation of the State Department of Revenue in 1971.
In 1973, the Board was abolished and its functions were transferred to the Department of Revenue
and the Department of Administration's State Tax Appeal Board.
The Investigation Bureau of the Legal and Investigation Division was established in 1973 to
handle all of the Department's compliance, investigatory, and enforcement needs. The Bureau
was composed of three units: the General Revenue Investigation Unit, the Alcoholic Beverages
Investigation Unit, and the Welfare Fraud Investigation Unit. It operated four regional
offices in Missoula, Great Falls, Billings, and Butte, and nine district offices. The
General Revenue Investigation Unit coordinated efforts between the Investigation Bureau and
other units of the Department of Revenue, primarily locating individuals indebted to the
state and enforcing applicable laws such as those having to do with, for example, tobacco
taxation and transportation, licensing, child support, and income tax.
The Alcoholic Beverages Inspection Unit's duties included background investigation of
license applicants, inspections of licensed establishments, and acting as a source of
information for both licensees and law enforcement agencies. The Welfare Fraud Investigation
Unit investigated matters relating to public welfare assistance, the receipt and disbursal
of welfare funds, and the failure of individuals to support dependent children whose needs
are included as part of an application of public assistance through a county welfare
office.
In 1975, the Investigation Bureau became the Investigation 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, which was later called the Location and Collection Unit.
While the division's structure and the allocation of responsibilities amongst its units
changed over time, its responsibilities remained essentially the same. The Legal Division
provided legal counsel to the rest of the Department of Revenue and conducted the process of
altering administrative rules pertinent to the Department.
By 1990, the Investigation Division became the Office of Investigation within the
Director's Office. Likewise, the Legal Division became the Office of Legal Affairs, which
also operated within the Director's Office. By 1994, the Office of Investigation was
eliminated. As of 2025, the Office of Legal Affairs (now named Legal Services Office)
continues to operate with the Director's Office of DOR.
This collection consists of two subgroups: the Investigation Division and the Legal
Division. The Investigation Division subgroup is made up of nine series: general
correspondence, interoffice correspondence, minutes, news releases, organization, printed
materials, reports, subject files, and miscellany. The general correspondence (1973-1980) is
arranged alphabetically by correspondent and subject. The folders entitled "miscellaneous"
include memoranda and outgoing correspondence primarily of investigators pursuing liquor
licensing and child care cases. These folders also include some investigators' reports, some
reports regarding liquor licensing and child support, and memoranda concerning Division
policies and procedures. The reports series (1973-1981) includes two folders of "activity
reports" which are monthly, quarterly, semiannual, and annual reports. These are wholly
statistical except for the semiannual and annual reports which contain prose
descriptions.
The Legal Division subgroup is made up of one series; subject files. The files consist of
material 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, for example,
assessment of mining equipment, tax on cigarettes, legal procedures of wine distribution,
and coal taxation.
The collection is arranged by subgroup and then by series.
Collection open for research.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical
Society Library & Archives. The Library & Archives 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 2025, the various collections of the Montana Department of Revenue were integrated
under one collection identifier, RS 504, in order to help facilitate access, reduce
redundancy in the MTHS catalog, and to follow best archival practices.
Collections from Department of Revenue's Divisions/Boards/Predecessor Agencies that
were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated into this collection, RS 504. Rather than reprocessing over 12
linear feet of DOR materials, MTHS staff decided to keep the past arrangement of
those collections/finding aids, and provide access to them via links through the
central finding aid. This decision has allowed the MTHS archival staff to maintain
intellectual control over the collection, while removing the need to reprocess it.
It also keeps State Agency finding aids at manageable sizes. Please read the scope
and content note carefully to determine if this subgroup pertains to your research
needs.
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers.
Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information is available upon request.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society
Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places
should search under these terms.
Montana. Department of Revenue
Montana. State Board of Equalization
Banks and banking--Law and
legislation--Montana
Child welfare--Montana
License system--Montana
Liquor industry--Montana
Liquor laws--Montana
Mines and mineral resources--Montana
Public welfare--Montana
Taxation--Montana
Montana
Government and
Politics
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection
Investigative Division
General Correspondence
1 / 1
Alcohol and Tobacco Control Bureau (re requests of
assistance at special events by local police and sheriff's offices)
1975-1980
1 / 2
Alcoholic beverages control (re investigations of
license violations, procedures, etc.; includes investigative reports)
1973-1980
1 / 3
Investigations of liquor store vendors
1973-1975
1 / 4
Montana Board of Crime Control
1974-1977
1 / 5
Montana Criminal Investigation Laboratory (includes
proposal to expand the lab's facilities)
1973-1976
1 / 6
Montana Fire Marshal Bureau
1973
1 / 7
Montana Law Enforcement Teletype Communications
Bureau
1974-1980
1 / 8-9
Chronological (correspondents include Montana Beer
Wholesalers' Association, Montana Highway Patrol Bureau, Helena Police Department,
Alpha Industries Inc., interoffice memos, primarily re investigations of illegal
gambling, child support payments, etc.)
1973-1979
Interoffice Correspondence
1 / 10
Child Support Enforcement Bureau (re structure,
policies, procedures, budgeting, and including activity reports)
1976-1980
1 / 11
Investigations concerning illegal liquor, illegal
liquor sales, and problems at state liquor stores
1974-1979
1 / 12
Legal Division (re procedures, powers of
investigators, taxation of Indian tribes, interpretation of liquor laws, etc.)
1973-1980
1 / 13
Liquor Division (re policies, procedures,
licensing, etc.)
1973-1980
1 / 14
Liquor Division Licensing Bureau
1980
1 / 15
Locate Unit (re locating persons failing to pay
child support, etc.; includes weekly reports to the administrator of the
Investigations Division and discussion of procedures and policy)
1974-1980
1 / 16-18
Memoranda between the director of the Department of
Revenue and the administrator of the Investigation Division
1973-1980
1 / 19
Objectives for the 1980-1981 biennium (re
inspectors duties past and present)
1979
1 / 20
Welfare Fraud Unit (re procedures and policies)
1974-1980
Minutes
1 / 21
Administrative staff meeting
1976 November
Organizational Records
1 / 22
Department of Revenue objectives and problems in
meeting objectives; Investigation Bureau objectives
1974-1975
1 / 23
Investigation Division organizational charts,
personnel lists, and position descriptions
1975-1980
1 / 24
Lists of regional offices and maps
1978-1980, undated
1 / 25
Outline of Investigation Bureau history, functions,
and personnel; description of Bureau investigation units; check-list of Bureau
procedures
1975-1976
Press Releases
1 / 26
Miscellaneous (re Medicaid, Food Stamp program, Aid
to Dependent Children, illegal liquor, welfare fraud)
1973-1977
Printed Material
1 / 27
Booze Nooze and Liquor Division News (divisional
newsletters; includes lists of license transfers)
1976-1978
1 / 28
List of printed material transferred to the Library
undated
Reports
1 / 29-30
Activity reports of the Investigation Bureau
1973-1981
1 / 31
Annual report to the Governor
1973-1979
1 / 32
Locate Unit monthly reports (re statistics on
location cases on bad debts, welfare fraud, and child support)
1976-1980
1 / 33
Quarterly and annual reports to the U.S. Department
of Health, Education and Welfare (re child support enforcement staff and activities)
1977-1978
Subject Files
1 / 34
Attempt to secure peace officer status for
investigative staff in matters concerning liquor
1973-1979
1 / 35
Robberies
1973-1978
Miscellany
1 / 36
Certificates of destruction of liquor
1975-1980
1 / 37
Contracts between the departments of Revenue and
Social and Rehabilitation Services re welfare fraud and child support; blank
"agreement for collection service"
1976-1979
1 / 38
Liquor Division regulations
undated
Legal Division
Subject Files
2 / 1
Adjusted gross income of spouses on separate income
tax returns
1980
2 / 2-3
Assessment of heavy equipment and manufacturing and
mining equipment
1978-1981
2 / 4-5
Banks' property taxation
1975
2 / 6
Centrally assessed property appraisal and
assessment
1976
2 / 7
Child support services fees
1979-1980
2 / 8
Cigarettes (re accounting control of distribution
and sales of unstamped cigarettes)
1979-1980
2 / 9
Citizen participation in the operations of
government agencies
1975-1976
2 / 10
Coal taxation on a gross proceeds basis
1973-1976
2 / 11
Liquor
1977
2 / 12
New industrial property
1976
2 / 13
Personal property tax valuation
1980-1981
2 / 14
Wine distribution
1979
2 / 15
Wine sales license amendment
1979