Some states have laws (statutes) that require a person to accurately provide their identification (ID) (name, residence address, date of birth) to the police if the police have reasonable suspicion to believe (1) a crime has been committed, is being committed, or is about to be committed and (2) the person asked to provide identification is involved as a participant or as a witness. If there is no reasonable suspicion, a person does not have to provide identification—but courts often find reasonable suspicion as a matter of course.

These statutes are sometimes called stop-and-identify laws or stop and ID laws, and the violation of the statute may be a criminal offense or crime known as “failure to ID.” Stop and ID laws vary from state to state in the states that have such laws. For example, in some states failure to ID cannot be the basis for an arrest (there must be an underlying criminal offense) and in some states the obligation to provide identification only applies to a person who has been arrested.

And in some states it is a criminal offense for a person to provide a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth if the person has been detained by police on the basis of reasonable suspicion or is believed to be a witness to a criminal offense.

The United States Supreme Court has held that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution may allow suspects to refuse to give their name if they have a reasonable belief their name could be incriminating. Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352 (1983).

In Montana, the law does not specifically require individuals to provide their identification to police upon request unless they are being lawfully detained or arrested. Montana Code Annotated § 46-5-401 states that a peace officer may stop any person out in public if they have reasonable suspicion to believe that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit an offense. During such a stop, the officer may request the person's name and address, the person's reason for being in the area, and an explanation of their actions. However, the statute does not explicitly make failure to provide identification a crime. It is important to note that providing false information to a peace officer is a separate offense under Montana law. Additionally, under the Fifth Amendment, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Kolender v. Lawson, individuals may have the right to refuse to give their name if doing so could be self-incriminating. However, this right is not absolute and depends on the circumstances of the encounter with law enforcement.