How to search Montana court records

Montana's statewide portal reaches most, but not all, courts. A few jurisdictions run their own separate systems — see the additional lookups below. Cost varies by record type — some searches are free, others require a paid account or a formal records request.

partial varies criminal data

Open the official Montana portal →

What's actually there

The courtlinks page only links the Supreme Court docket. Trial court case indexes are on two free portals (district court and courts of limited jurisdiction) that cover only courts already converted to Full Court Enterprise. Supreme Court docket search is at supremecourtdocket.mt.gov; juddocumentservice.mt.gov is the opinion document server, not a search page.

Other official lookups for Montana

How Montana's courts are organized

Montana's general trial courts are the district courts. The Judicial Branch counts 56 of them, one for each county, and they handle felony criminal cases, most civil lawsuits, divorce and custody, probate, and appeals from some lower courts. Misdemeanors, traffic tickets, small claims and many civil disputes under the dollar limit go to the courts of limited jurisdiction: justice courts run by the county, and city or municipal courts run by towns. Two specialty courts sit beside them, the Water Court for water rights claims and the Workers' Compensation Court. The Montana Supreme Court is the only appellate court; there is no intermediate court of appeals.

Montana is in the middle of moving its trial courts to one centralized case management system called Full Court Enterprise. As each court converts, its public case index appears in one of two free portals: the District Court Public Access Portal or the Courts of Limited Jurisdiction Public Access Portal. The Judicial Branch posts an implementation list for each portal, so check it before assuming a county or town court is online. The Supreme Court keeps its own separate docket search.

Using the official online search

The Judicial Branch's rules for the trial court portal say every member of the public gets the same access at no cost. You can search by court, by party name or by case number. Results are an index, not the court file: case number, case type, party names, the court, a register of actions listing what has been filed, and hearing calendars. The rules state plainly that the portal is not the official court record and that full files are available at the courthouse.

The Supreme Court docket search covers active cases, closed cases from 2006 on, and closed cases from 1979 through 2005, searchable by case number, party or attorney. Opinions and orders are published separately on the court's daily orders page.

Not in the trial portal: cases made confidential by statute, including child abuse and neglect, adoption, paternity and commitment cases.
Not in the trial portal: cases in which a party is a minor, and any case sealed by court order.
Courts that have not yet converted to Full Court Enterprise will not show up at all; contact that court directly.
The portal is described by the Judicial Branch as a courtesy, not a required service, and it may be offline for maintenance.

Getting copies and certified copies

For district court files, ask the Clerk of District Court in the county where the case was filed. The Judicial Branch's Court Locator lists each clerk's address and phone number. For justice, city or municipal court cases, contact that court directly.

District court clerk fees are set by statute (MCA 25-1-201). Paper copies are $1 per page for the first 10 pages of each file per request and 50 cents per page after that; copies sent by fax or email are 25 cents per page. A certificate with seal is $2. If you ask the clerk to search for you, the fee is $2 per name for each year searched, for up to seven years, then $1 per name for each additional year. A copy of a dissolution decree is $10 and a copy of a marriage license is $5.

Records that are not public

Montana allows a one-time misdemeanor expungement under Title 46, chapter 18, part 11 of the Montana Code. Under MCA 46-18-1104, a person convicted of one or more misdemeanors who has not used this process before may petition a district court to expunge records of arrest, investigation, detention and the related court proceedings. A person may do this only once in a lifetime and must be fingerprinted to confirm identity. The petition must be served on each prosecuting office involved, and the court may expunge all, some or none of the offenses. The court's own packet says felonies, marijuana convictions handled under the separate marijuana law, and out-of-state or tribal convictions are not covered by this process.

Expunged and sealed cases drop out of the public portal. Montana's Judicial Branch publishes a misdemeanor expungement packet with instructions and forms. This page describes the law and is not legal advice; talk to a lawyer or a Court Help Program self-help center about your own situation.

Montana tip: find the right clerk first

Because the trial court portals only show courts that have already converted, the fastest route for an older or rural case is often a phone call to the county Clerk of District Court. Use the Court Locator on courts.mt.gov to get the clerk for the county, and if you need a check across several years, ask about the per-name search fee before the clerk starts. For state prison records, the Department of Corrections offender search is a separate state system from the courts.

Sources

Checked against the official sources above in October 2026. Court rules and fees change; the court's own site is the final word. This is general information, not legal advice.

Federal cases filed in Montana

State portals don't cover federal court. If the case you're looking for might be a federal criminal prosecution, civil suit, or bankruptcy, use CourtRecordsFree's live federal search — it queries CourtListener/RECAP directly and isn't limited to any one state.

Search tips

Try both "Last, First" and "First Last" — courts index names inconsistently.
Middle initials and suffixes (Jr., III) often matter for common names.
A date of birth or case number is the only reliable way to confirm you found the right person.
An arrest or charge shown in a docket is not a conviction — read the disposition.

Frequently asked questions

Is it free to search Montana court records online?

It depends on what you're looking for. Some record types on Montana's portal are free; others require payment or a formal request.

Does this include criminal records?

Yes. Montana's portal includes criminal case records alongside civil cases, though sealed and expunged cases are not shown.

Does one search cover the whole state?

Mostly. Montana's statewide portal covers most courts, but a few jurisdictions maintain separate systems — worth checking the additional lookups above if your court isn't listed.

Links move. If the Montana portal link above is dead, tell us on the corrections page.