The Montana Judicial System and Yellowstone County officials are organizing an effort to ask the next Montana State Legislature to fund three additional District Court Judges for Yellowstone County.
Yellowstone County’s 13th Judicial District Court has the highest case load in the state by a wide margin, according to a recent survey, which concluded that the case load actually justifies the addition of 4-plus judges.
Beth McLaughlin, attorney for the Montana Court Administrator, in the company of District Court Judge Jessica Fehr, presented the data to the commissioners during a discussion meeting, last week, seeking their support for the proposal. McLaughlin said that they never recommend additional judges for a county without that county’s support.
McLaughlin said there was actually a lot of pressure during the last legislative session to add additional judges for Yellowstone County, but they didn’t have the data they needed to support the request. The state Judicial Department oversees the district courts, paying for the judge’s salaries, staff, chambers’ furniture, technology and furnishings. The county provides the space needed, chambers and courtroom, and additional support in the Clerk of Court’s office, and security.
Yellowstone County Commissioners were on board with the proposal. County Commissioner John Ostlund said, “We have been preparing. We knew it was going to happen eventually.”
Commissioner Mark Morse said, “It might help with creating more space at the jail.”
McLaughlin said the judges’ appointments would be effective as of January 26, 2026.
The commissioners and staff discussed what they would have to do to accommodate the three new judges. The time line will be tight.
The county is in the process of preparing the Miller Building to add office space for other county departments, with the expectation of moving most departments by the end of 2025. More remodeling of the Courthouse would have to be done to add additional judges and court rooms.
Finding temporary space for as long as 18 months might be necessary, commented Director of Management and Budget Kevan Bryan, suggesting that perhaps they could extend the lease they have with the city for space on the third floor of the Stillwater Building. It was pondered whether the commissioners’ board room could serve as a temporary court room.
The County Courthouse, where all courts are currently housed, is getting full.
It will take between 15 and 18 months to do the remodeling – and it will be very disruptive to the Courthouse.
They speculated they may be able to accommodate only one judge as soon as 2026 with the other two to follow the next year. If that is acceptable to the state, they said.
Commissioner Don Jones asked Judge Fehr if each judge would have to have their own court room. Fehr responded that while she very much appreciated the current arrangement in which the judges have
