Fundamentals of Montana Municipal Government Online Course

Welcome to Montana municipal government! Through this six-week introductory course, participants will study the foundational elements of local government, including its purpose, laws, best practices, duties of elected and appointed officials, and much more. It is a great practical overview of municipal government in Montana for both new and experienced officials.* 

*This course is offered through Montana State University Extension and does not count for university course credit. However, municipal clerks, treasurers, and finance officers pursuing MMCTFOA or IIMC professional development certification can earn a total of 12 education hours (2 per unit) by completing the course. 

Join us for our Spring session, January 6 to February 17, 2026!

Please Note: We offer this course twice a year, once in the spring (Jan-Feb) and again in the fall (Sep-Nov). If you can't make the upcoming course, you'll be able to take it during the next round. 

COURSE FORMAT  

This course follows a six-week, semi-asynchronous format based on the Montana Municipal Officials Handbook, 3rd ed.

Because of the challenges of participants' busy schedules, there are no set group meeting times for the course. Instead, particpants will intereact with their fellow cohort members through online discussion forums.

Participants will complete one unit per week following posted deadlines and must complete the following steps prior to the weekly deadline: 

1. Read the assigned Handbook sections.

2. Complete the unit quizz.

3. Participate in the online discussion forums with one original post and one response post each of at least 50 words.

The upcoming spring session schedule is as follows:

• Unit 1: January 6-13
• Unit 2: January 13-20
• Unit 3: January 20-27
• Unit 4: January 27-February 3
• Unit 5: February 3-10
• Unit 6: February 10-17

REGISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS

PLEASE NOTE: The course will be available on Tuesday, December 30, one week before the course begins. On that Tuesday, registered participants will receive an email with the course link and access instructions.

COURSE MATERIAL

The Montana Municipal Officials Handbook, 3rd ed. can be viewed or downloaded from the MSU Local Government Center's website. Participants are welcome to download and print the handbook from the link below.

We manually enroll participants into their course cohorts to avoid quorum issues, so you won't have access to the course until the week prior to the course start, as we wait till we have a complete list of participants before creating the cohort groups. If you'd like to be able to start working ahead, here's a course syllabus with the readings, course objectives, and major topics for each unit.