Billings, MT Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Sec. 24-802, Billings Municipal Code
- Where it applies
- Business district only
- Penalty
- Up to $500 fine or 6 months jail
- Who marks crosswalks
- City administrator, under Sec. 24-801
- Blind pedestrian exception
- MCA 49-4-213, 49-4-216 via Sec. 24-803
- Missed court date
- Separate misdemeanor, Sec. 24-1002
Summary
Billings pedestrians may not cross a roadway anywhere but a marked crosswalk once they're in the business district, Sec. 24-802 of the Municipal Code says flatly. The city administrator designates those crosswalks and safety zones under Sec. 24-801. Step off the curb mid-block downtown and you're violating city code, not just risking traffic: it's a misdemeanor under the Code's general penalty section, Sec. 1-110.
Sec. 24-801. - Designation and maintenance of crosswalks and safety zones. The city administrator is authorized to: (1)Designate and maintain, by appropriate devices, marks or lines upon the surface of the roadway, crosswalks at intersections where in his opinion there is particular danger to pedestrians crossing the roadway, and at such other places as he or she may deem necessary... Sec. 24-802. - Use of crosswalks in business district only. No pedestrian shall cross a roadway other than in a crosswalk in the business district. Sec. 1-110(a). - Violations; penalty. Any person violating any of the provisions or failing to comply with any of the mandatory requirements of this Code... shall be guilty of a misdemeanor... shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00), or by imprisonment not to exceed six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each such person shall be guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which any violation... is committed, continued or permitted.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 66 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 24-802, carried forward from the 1967 Code (Sec. " The companion section, Sec. as the state pedestrian-traffic statute this local rule sits alongside, and Chapter 24's adoption section, Sec. 24-101, separately incorporates the Montana Code's definition of "business district" at MCA 61-1-408 by reference, so the geographic reach of Sec. 24-802 tracks the state definition rather than a locally drawn map. Blind pedestrians get a specific carve-out: Sec. 24-803 adopts MCA 49-4-213 and 49-4-216, the state provisions on white canes and a driver's duty toward a person carrying one, directly into the Municipal Code.
Because Sec. 24-802 has no penalty clause of its own, enforcement runs through the Code's general violations section, Sec. 00 fine, up to six months in jail, or both, with each day of a continuing violation charged as a separate offense. Police issue a citation under the triplicate-form procedure in Sec. 24-1003, and under Sec. 24-1002, failing to appear in city court on that citation is itself a separate misdemeanor regardless of how the original charge is resolved.
Violations & Fines
A pedestrian crossing mid-block outside a marked crosswalk anywhere in the business district is cited under Sec. 24-802 and prosecuted as a misdemeanor under Sec. 1-110(a): up to $500.00, up to six months in jail, or both, with every additional day the conduct continues charged separately. Citations are written on the triplicate forms required by Sec. 24-1003; missing the court date on one is a further misdemeanor under Sec. 24-1002.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the crosswalk-only rule apply across all of Billings?
Who decides where the marked crosswalks are?
What happens if I'm cited for crossing outside a crosswalk downtown?
Is there an exception for pedestrians who are blind?
Sources & Official References
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