United States District Court for the District of Montana

United States District Court for the District of Montana (D. Mont.)
Map
Appeals to	Ninth Circuit
Established	February 22, 1889
Judges assigned	3
Chief judge	Richard F. Cebull
Official site

The United States District Court for the District of Montana (in case citations, D. Mont.) is the United States District Court whose jurisdiction is the state of Montana (except the part of the state within Yellowstone National Park, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming). The court is located in Billings, Butte, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula.

Cases from the District of Montana are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Montana represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana is Michael Cotter.

History

The District of Montana was organized on February 22, 1889, by 25 Stat. 676, following Montana's admission to statehood. Congress organized Montana as a single judicial district, and authorized one judgeship for the district court, which was assigned to the Ninth Circuit. A temporary second judgeship was added on September 14, 1922, by 42 Stat. 837, and was made permanent on May 31, 1938 by 52 Stat. 584. On July 10, 1984, by 98 Stat. 333, the third judgeship was authorized.

Judges

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
16	Chief Judge Judge	Richard F. Cebull	Billings	1944	2001–present	2008–present	—	G.W. Bush
17	District Judge	Sam E. Haddon	Great Falls	1937	2001–present	—	—	G.W. Bush
18	District Judge	Dana L. Christensen	Missoula	1951	2011–present	—	—	Obama
13	Senior District Judge	Charles C. Lovell	Helena	1929	1985–2000	—	2000–present	Reagan
14	Senior District Judge	Jack D. Shanstrom	Billings	1932	1990-2001	1996–2001	2001–present	G.H. W. Bush
15	Senior District Judge	Donald W. Molloy	Missoula	1946	1996–2011	2001–2008	2011–present	Clinton

Former Judges

Judge	Appointed by	Began active service	Ended active service	Ended senior status	End reason
James Harris Baldwin	Franklin D. Roosevelt	01935-06-04 June 4, 1935	01944-10-26 October 26, 1944	–	death
James Franklin Battin	Richard Nixon	01969-02-27 February 27, 1969	01990-02-13 February 13, 1990	01996-09-27 September 27, 1996	death
George M. Bourquin	William Howard Taft	01912-03-08 March 8, 1912	01934-03-09 March 9, 1934	01958-11-15 November 15, 1958	death
Robert Lewis Brown, Sr.	Franklin D. Roosevelt	01945-04-07 April 7, 1945	01948-04-02 April 2, 1948	–	death
Paul G. Hatfield	Jimmy Carter	01979-05-10 May 10, 1979	01996-02-09 February 9, 1996	02000-07-03 July 3, 2000	death
William Henry Hunt	Theodore Roosevelt	01904-04-19 April 19, 1904	01910-03-30 March 30, 1910	–	reappointment
William James Jameson	Dwight D. Eisenhower	01957-03-28 March 28, 1957	01969-02-27 February 27, 1969	01990-10-08 October 8, 1990	death
Hiram Knowles	Benjamin Harrison	01890-02-21 February 21, 1890	01904-04-15 April 15, 1904	–	retirement
William Daniel Murray	Harry S. Truman	01949-05-09 May 9, 1949	01965-12-31 December 31, 1965	01994-10-03 October 3, 1994	death
Charles Nelson Pray	Calvin Coolidge	01924-02-08 February 8, 1924	01957-04-10 April 10, 1957	01963-09-12 September 12, 1963	death
Carl L. Rasch	William Howard Taft	01910-05-02 May 2, 1910	01911-10-15 October 15, 1911	–	resignation
Russell Evans Smith	Lyndon B. Johnson	01966-03-26 March 26, 1966	01979-05-12 May 12, 1979	01990-03-29 March 29, 1990	death

See also

• Courts of Montana
• List of United States federal courthouses in Montana

External links

• United States District Court for the District of Montana Official Website
• United States Attorney for the District of Montana Official Website
• U.S. District Court of Montana, Legislative history, Federal Judicial Center.