E-Verify requirements in Montana: the 2025 LEGAL Act, where E-Verify is one of two ways to comply

Montana is the odd one out among no-mandate states. As of October 2026 it does not require any employer to use E-Verify, but it does have a state employment verification law with its own audits and fines. The Legal Employment and Government Accountability Law, known as the LEGAL Act and passed as House Bill 226 (Chapter 242, Laws of 2025), took effect July 1, 2025. It requires every employer to keep proof of each new employee's work authorization in one of two forms: an E-Verify confirmation, or a completed Form I-9 with the documents behind it. The Department of Labor and Industry can inspect those records and fine employers that cannot produce them.

So the answer to "is E-Verify required in Montana?" is no, but the answer to "does Montana check how I verify?" is now yes.

What the LEGAL Act requires

The core duty is in MCA 39-2-1603(1). Within the timelines set by the federal I-9 regulation, 8 CFR 274a.2, an employer must request and maintain a copy of either:

1. the citizenship or work authorization status verified by USCIS's E-Verify program, or
2. a completed Form I-9 with corresponding documents that establish both identity and employment authorization.

"Employer" and "employee" take their meanings from Montana's workers' compensation definitions (MCA 39-71-117 and 39-71-118), which are broad. There is no employee-count threshold and no exemption for small businesses in the act itself.

Tying the deadline to 8 CFR 274a.2 means the federal I-9 clock now matters under state law as well: Section 1 by the first day of work, Section 2 within three business days of the start date. A late Section 2 is a federal paperwork violation and, in Montana, a gap in the record the state can ask to see.

The document-copy question

Federal rules let an employer choose whether to photocopy the documents an employee presents for Form I-9, so long as it treats employees consistently. Montana's wording changes the calculation for employers that do not use E-Verify. The statute asks for a copy of "a completed form I-9 with corresponding documents," which reads as requiring the documents themselves, not just the form's description of them. Until the department says otherwise, a Montana employer relying on the I-9 route should copy the List A, or List B and List C, documents for every new hire and keep them with the form. For what counts as an acceptable document, see I-9 List A, B and C documents.

Copying for everyone, not selectively, also keeps the employer clear of the federal anti-discrimination rules on document practices.

The E-Verify safe harbor

MCA 39-2-1603(2) gives E-Verify users something the I-9 route does not: an employer that used E-Verify to determine an employee's eligibility is presumed to have done so in good faith and is not subject to a penalty because it relied on the system's accuracy. For an employer worried about forged documents that look genuine, that presumption is the main reason to choose E-Verify in Montana. The tradeoff is the federal memorandum of understanding, which applies to every new hire at each enrolled site and forbids running cases before an accepted offer and a completed I-9.

Choosing between the two routes

Either route still starts with Form I-9; the federal form is never optional. An employer can also use E-Verify at one hiring site and the document-copy route at another, as long as each site's practice is consistent and each file can be produced on request. Mixing methods inside a single site invites both federal discrimination questions and confusion in an audit.

Audits, inspections and penalties

The Department of Labor and Industry enforces the act and may investigate, audit or review employers (MCA 39-2-1604). The department's announcement says audits may be selected at random or triggered by complaints.

The penalty is counted per individual "employed, hired, or recruited" in violation. The word "recruited" is worth a recruiter's attention, although the act does not define it and we found no guidance on how the department applies it to someone who sources candidates but is not the employer of record.

What the LEGAL Act did not do

It did not make E-Verify mandatory. A separate 2025 bill, Senate Bill 329, would have required larger employers to use E-Verify; it did not become law, and the Montana Code contains only the LEGAL Act's either-or rule. The act also states that it must be interpreted consistently with federal immigration and labor law (MCA 39-2-1607) and does not displace the federal duty to complete and keep Form I-9 (MCA 39-2-1604(3)).

Federal contracts in Montana

Federal work brings its own, stricter rule. A contract with FAR 52.222-54 requires E-Verify enrollment within 30 days of award. Under FAR 22.1803 the clause is used in contracts above $150,000, other than those performed only abroad, those under 120 days, and those only for commercially available off-the-shelf items, and it flows down to services or construction subcontracts above $3,500. In Montana that can include construction and maintenance at federal facilities and on federal land. A covered contractor that enrolls also satisfies the E-Verify branch of the LEGAL Act.

Staffing agencies and recruiters in Montana

• The agency that employs the worker and completes Form I-9 is the employer that must keep the LEGAL Act record, whether that is an E-Verify result or an I-9 with document copies.
• Expect clients, especially after the act's audit provisions took effect, to ask which method the agency uses and whether it can produce records on three business days' notice.
• Placements in Idaho carry no state E-Verify duty; Idaho has no E-Verify statute. See E-Verify requirements by state for other destinations.
• Montana licensing is a separate question; see staffing agency license requirements in Montana.

A worked example

This is an invented example. A Bozeman hospitality group hires 40 seasonal workers each spring. Before July 2025 it completed Form I-9 without copying documents. After the LEGAL Act, it chooses the I-9 route rather than E-Verify, updates its onboarding so every new hire's documents are copied and filed with the form, and checks that Section 2 is done within three business days. When the department gives notice of an audit, it produces the files within the three business days the statute allows. A sister company that does federal concession work, and is already enrolled under a FAR clause, relies on its E-Verify results instead and has the benefit of the good-faith presumption.

A Montana checklist

1. Choose your method: E-Verify, or Form I-9 with document copies. Write it down.
2. If using the I-9 route, copy documents for every new hire and keep them with the form.
3. If using E-Verify, follow the federal MOU for every new hire at the enrolled site.
4. Meet the federal I-9 deadlines, which the act adopts.
5. Be able to produce records within three business days of a department request; a self-audit with the I-9 audit checklist is a good start.