Montana District Courts

Montana District Courts
The 22 judicial districts of the District Courts of Montana
Established	1889
Jurisdiction	Judicial District
Composition method	Non-partisan election
Authorized by	Constitution of Montana
Decisions are appealed to	Montana Supreme Court
Decisions are heard for appeals from	Justice of the Peace Courts, City Courts, and Municipal Courts
Judge term length	Six years
Number of positions	One to six
Website	courts.mt.gov/dcourt

Montana District Courts are the state trial courts of general jurisdiction in the U.S. state of Montana. Montana District Courts have original jurisdiction over most civil cases (at law and in equity), civil actions involving monetary claims against the state, criminal felony cases, naturalization proceedings, probate cases, and most writs. They may also hear certain special actions and proceedings, and oversee a narrowly-defined class of ballot issues. Montana District Courts also have limited appellate jurisdiction regarding cases that arise in Justice Courts, City Courts, and Municipal Courts (Courts of Limited Jurisdiction) as well as Judicial review of decisions by state administrative law tribunals that fall under the Montana Administrative Procedures Act.

District Court judges are elected in nonpartisan elections for six-year terms. Mechanisms exist for removing judges for misconduct, and for filling vacancies between elections. There are 56 District Courts organized into 22 judicial districts, but only 46 District Court judges. Workload is a serious issue in the District Courts, which are assisted in their administrative tasks by a District Court Council.

Montana became a state in 1889. A state constitution was drafted in 1884, which established a system of courts: A supreme court, district courts, county courts, justices of the peace, and municipal courts such as the legislature might see fit to create. Four judicial districts were created, each with a district court. National politics delayed Montana's statehood, however, in part because a significant number of other territories (Arizona Territory, Dakota Territory, Idaho Territory, New Mexico Territory, Utah Territory, Washington Territory, and Wyoming Territory) were all seeking statehood. Statehood for Montana was also stymied, specifically, because Montana voters of the day overwhelmingly favored the Republican Party. The Democratic-controlled United States House of Representatives routinely blocked Montana statehood to retain the status quo balance of power in Congress. The impasse was broken in 1888 when the Democratic Party amended its platform to favor the statehood of Republican-controlled territories, and the Republican Party amended its platform to favor the statehood of Democratic-controlled territories.