2-15-101. Declaration of policy and purpose. (1) The purpose of this chapter is to comply with Article VI, section 7, of the Montana constitution which requires that all executive and administrative offices, boards, bureaus, commissions, agencies, and instrumentalities of the executive branch (except for the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, and auditor) and their respective functions, powers, and duties shall be allocated by law among not more than 20 principal departments so as to provide an orderly arrangement in the administrative organization of state government.

(2) It is the public policy of this state and the purpose of this chapter to create a structure of the executive branch of state government which is responsive to the needs of the people of this state and sufficiently flexible to meet changing conditions; to strengthen the executive capacity to administer effectively and efficiently at all levels; to encourage greater public participation in state government; to effect the grouping of state agencies into a reasonable number of departments primarily according to function; to provide that the responsibility within the executive branch of state government for the implementation of programs and policies is clearly fixed and ascertainable; and to eliminate overlapping and duplication of effort within the executive branch of state government.