Montana Court Records

Montana Court Record Lookup

Enforcing an eviction, collecting funds due after a civil lawsuit, establishing child custody, and clearing a driving record are all accomplished with the appropriate Montana MT court records. They can be viewed by performing a Montana court records search. You can use court records to find someone's Montana public criminal records too.

Limited jurisdiction courts

Justice of the Peace courts are found in over 60 locations across Montana. Along with more than 80 city courts and five municipal courts, these courts have jurisdiction over misdemeanors such as petty theft and traffic tickets, small claims issues under $3,000 in value and violations of location ordinances. 

Water court is a specific judicial body that presides over water rights, a valuable resource in Montana. Other specialty courts include a workers compensation court as well as drug treatment and youth courts that were created to offer services aimed at keeping first-time and nonviolent offenders out of the mainstream legal system.

Legal issues and crimes that arise on sovereign Native American property within Montana are handled by local tribal courts.

Trial court

There are 22 district courts located throughout Montana with jurisdiction over general criminal and civil issues, including Montana child support and custody cases. This court also takes certain appeals of lower court cases, which can be viewed via Montana court case lookup.

The number of criminal cases filed in the district court has risen steadily over the past 10 years to more than 12,300 in a recent year. In addition, mentioned Montana courthouses saw over 15,700 civil cases and 10,600 domestic relations, pushing the total number of cases filed in a recent year to more than 54,000.

Appellate court

Montana is one of just a few states without an intermediate appellate court; appeals of all cases are considered by the state supreme court. Seven justices sit on the supreme court and may advise lower courts during trials as well as decide if individuals may go free while awaiting trial.

The supreme court receives more than 600 new cases each year and issues over 320 opinions.

Federal court

Montana residents who join class action lawsuits, declare bankruptcy, or violate federal law are likely to do so through the U.S. District Court located in Montana. Anyone can access Montana court records online via Montana court record lookup.

Montana Notable Court Cases

The Montana Supreme Court made a landmark decision in 2009 in Baxter v. Montana, stating that doctors should be protected from prosecution in cases of assisted suicide with a terminally ill patient. The justices in the majority cited a 1985 case which addressed withdrawing treatment for terminally ill patients in their opinions. However, the decision did not address whether a patient had a constitutional right to assisted suicide.

In 2014, the same court reversed its own prior ruling in a case brought by Brian Shoof, allowing a government agency to be sued for lack of openness without proving personal injury. Shoof filed his case after learning that Custer County officials were allowed to receive cash payments in lieu of health insurance premiums as a result of a meeting closed to the public. Shoof claimed that this policy did not comply with the state's right-to-know laws.