The City of Great Falls has over twenty boards and commissions. Members are appointed by the CityCommission, usually to three-year terms, usually with a residency requirement, and always in public at a regular meeting under the boards and commissions item.
Vacancies are advertised by City staff under Resolution 10524, the appointment policy, which is cited in essentially every appointment item in the minutes. Applications go in on the Board and Commission Citizen Interest Form. Some boards interview and recommend; the Commission makes the final appointment and is not bound by the recommendation. The Commission sometimes interviews candidates itself at a special work session — as it did for the LibraryBoard in June 2026 and the RegionalAirportAuthority in January 2026.
Appointments are not always unanimous. The minutes record 4-1 and 3-1 splits and at least one abstention on board appointments across 2025 and 2026.
Land use: PlanningAdvisoryBoard · BoardOfAdjustment · HistoricPreservationAdvisoryCommission · GrowthPolicySteeringCommittee
Money and districts: AuditCommittee · BusinessImprovementDistrict · TourismBusinessImprovementDistrict · SuperTifAdvisoryCommittee
Services: LibraryBoard · ParkAndRecreationBoard · ParkingAdvisoryCommission · PoliceCommission · EmsAdvisoryBoard · HousingAuthority · MansfieldCenterAdvisoryBoard
Joint and regional: RegionalAirportAuthority · TransitDistrict · MetropolitanPlanningOrganization · TransportationPlanningTac · CityCountyHealthBoard · ConservationDistrict · OpioidAbatementCommittee
Dormant: AdvisoryCommissionOnInternationalRelationships
Separately elected and separately covered: the nine NeighborhoodCouncils and their CouncilOfCouncils.
Members are subject to the OpenMeetingLaw and to the CodeOfEthics. The City publishes a Board and Commission Handbook and a legal opinion on conflicts.
Advisory boards and commissions: https://greatfallsmt.gov/275/Advisory-Boards-and-Commissions Appointment policy: https://greatfallsmt.gov/464/Appointment-Policy Handbook: https://greatfallsmt.gov/462/Board-and-Commission-Handbook