AIDS Prevention Act: Confidentiality of HIV Test Records
MT HIV Confidentiality
Health
Montana bars disclosing the identity of a person tested for HIV or their results in an identifiable way, except as allowed under the Uniform Health Care Information Act and related law. People harmed can sue for statutory damages.
- Where
- Montana
- Citation
- Mont. Code Ann. 50-16-1009, 50-16-1013
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 1989-10-01
- Last amended
- 2009-10-01
- Enforced by
- Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (civil); county attorneys (criminal); private plaintiffs
- People can sue
- Yes
- Penalties
- Unlawful disclosure is a misdemeanor ($1,000 fine and/or 1 year) (50-16-1009(3)); civil damages of the greater of $5,000 or actual damages for negligent violations and $20,000 or actual damages for intentional or reckless violations, plus attorney fees (50-16-1013).
- Applies to
- Any person holding the identity of an HIV test subject or test results (50-16-1009(1))
Practices it requires
- Do not disclose, or compel disclosure of, an HIV test subject's identity or results in an identifiable way except as allowed by law.Mont. Code Ann. 50-16-1009(1)
Other duties
- Providers informing a subject of a positive result must encourage the subject to notify contacts and may seek voluntary authorization to notify them.Mont. Code Ann. 50-16-1009(2)
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Effective dates inferred from history notes (En. Ch. 614, L. 1989; amd. Ch. 362, L. 2009) and the default October 1 rule.
Research reference, not legal advice.