List of justices of the Montana Supreme Court

Following is a list of justices of the Montana Supreme Court.

## Current members

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Chief Justice  | Term began  | Term expires  | Notes

|
|
|

Mike McGrath | 2017  | 2024  | Elected 2008; re-elected 2016; previously served as Attorney General, 2000–2008
Associate Justice  | Term began  | Term expires  | Notes
Laurie McKinnon | 2013  | 2028  | Elected 2012
James A. Rice | 2014  | 2030  | Appointed by Governor Judy Martz; elected 2002; re-elected 2006; re-elected 2014; re-elected 2022
Beth Baker | 2011  | 2026  | Elected 2010
Jim Shea | 2017  | 2028  | Appointed by Governor Steve Bullock, 2014; elected 2016
Dirk Sandefur | 2017  | 2024  | Elected 2016
Ingrid Gustafson | 2018  | 2030  | Appointed by Governor Steve Bullock, 2018; elected 2022

## Former members

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### Chief justices

[edit]

#### Montana Territorial Supreme Court

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Chief Justice  | Term served  | Notes

|
|

Hezekiah L. Hosmer | (1864–1868)  | Appointed first chief justice of Territorial Supreme Court by President Lincoln
Henry L. Warren | (1868–1871)  | Appointed by President Johnson
Decius Wade | (1871–1887)  | Appointed by President Grant
Newton W. McConnell | (1887–1889)  | Appointed by President Cleveland; resigned
Henry N. Blake | (1889)  | Appointed by President Harrison, 1889; previously Associate Justice of Territorial Supreme Court (1875–1885); elected first chief justice of Montana Supreme Court after statehood

#### Montana Supreme Court

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Chief Justice  | Term served  | Notes

|
|

Henry N. Blake | (1889–1893)  | First Chief Justice of Montana Supreme Court; previously Associate Justice of Territorial Supreme Court (1875–1885); Chief Justice of Territorial Supreme Court (1889)
William Y. Pemberton | (1893–1899)  |
Theodore M. Brantley | (1899–1922)  | Died in office; longest serving Chief Justice to date (23 years)
Llewellyn L. Callaway | (1922–1935)  | Appointed
Walter B. Sands | (1935–1938)  | Died in office
O. F. Goddard | (1938–1939)  | Appointed
Howard A. Johnson | (1939–1946)  | Resigned
Carl Lindquist | (1946)  | Appointed
Hugh R. Adair | (1947–1956)  | Also served as Associate Justice 1943–1946, 1957–1968
James T. Harrison | (1957–1977)  | Appointed
Paul G. Hatfield | (1977–1978)  |
Frank I. Haswell | (1978–1985)  | Appointed
Jean A. Turnage | (1985–2000)
Karla M. Gray | (2001–2008)  | Elected
Mike McGrath | (2009– )  | Elected

#### Associate justices

[edit]

##### Montana Territorial Supreme Court

[edit]

Associate Justice  | Term served  | Notes

|
|

Ammi Giddings | (1864–1865)  | Appointed by President Lincoln, but never served; resigned immediately due to ill health, though commission remained in force until 1865
Lorenzo P. Williston | (1864–1868)  | Appointed by President Lincoln
Lyman E. Munson | (1865–1869)  | Appointed by President Lincoln
Hiram Knowles | (1868–1879)  | Appointed by President Johnson
George G. Symes | (1869–1871)  | Appointed by President Grant
John Luttrell Murphy | (1871-1872)  | Appointed by Ulysses S. Grant. Recalled/resigned after much controversy, replaced by Justice Servis.
Francis G. Servis | (1872–1875)  | Appointed by President Grant
Henry N. Blake | (1875–1885)  | Appointed by President Grant; subsequently appointed as Chief Justice of Territorial Supreme Court, 1889; elected first chief justice of Supreme Court, 1889–1893
William J. Galbraith | (1879–1888)  | Appointed to first term by President Hayes, to subsequent term by President Arthur
Everton Conger | (1880–1886)  | Appointed by President Hayes
John Coburn | (1884–1886)  | Appointed by President Hayes
Thomas C. Bach | (1886–1889)  | Appointed by President Cleveland
James H. McLeary | (1886–1888)  | Appointed by President Cleveland
Stephen DeWolf | (1888–1889)  | Appointed by President Cleveland
Moses J. Liddell | (1888–1889)  | Appointed by President Cleveland

##### Montana Supreme Court

[edit]

Associate Justice  | Term served  | Notes

|
|

William H. DeWitt | (1889–1897)  |
Edgar N. Harwood | (1889–1895)  |
William Henry Hunt | (1895–1900)  | Resigned
Horace R. Buck | (1897)  | Died in office
William Trigg Pigott | (1897–1903)  | Appointed
Robert L. Word | (1900–1901)  | Appointed
George R. Milburn | (1901–1907)  |
William L. Holloway | (1903–1926)  | Died in office
Henry C. Smith | (1907–1913)  |
Sydney Sanner | (1913–1918)  |
William Trigg Pigott  | (1918)  | Appointed; previously served as Associate Justice, 1897–1903
Charles H. Cooper | (1919–1924)  | Resigned
John Hurly | (1919–1921)  |
George Y. Patten | (1919)  | Appointed to newly created seat; resigned
John A. Matthews | (1919–1920)  | Appointed; subsequently served as Associate Justice, 1925–1937
Roy E. Ayers | (1922)  | Appointed to newly created seat, January 1922; resigned November 22, 1922
Albert J. Galen | (1921–1933)  |
Frank B. Reynolds | (1921–1922)  | Died in office
George W. Farr | (1922–1923)  | Appointed
Albert P. Stark | (1923–1929)  |
Wellington D. Rankin | (1924–1925)  | Appointed
John A. Matthews  | (1925–1937)  | Previously served as Associate Justice, 1919
Warren Toole | (1926–1927)  | Appointed
Henry L. Myers | (1927–1929)  | Appointed
Albert H. Angstman | (1929–1934)  | Subsequently served as Associate Justice 1937–1942, 1945–1961 for a total of 28 years
Sam C. Ford | (1929–1933)  | Subsequently Governor of Montana, 1941 to 1949
Ralph J. Anderson | (1933–1939)  |
Sam V. Stewart | (1933–1939)  | Previously Governor of Montana, 1913–1921; State Representative, 1931–1933; died in office, 1939
Claude F. Morris | (1935–1947)  |
Albert H. Angstman  | (1937–1942)  | Previously served as Associate Justice, 1929–1934; subsequently served 1945–1961
Ralph L. Arnold | (1939–1941)  | Appointed
Leif Erickson | (1939–1945)  |
Albert Anderson | (1941–1945)  |
Hugh R. Adair | (1943–1946)  | Subsequently served as Chief Justice, 1947–1956, and again as Associate Justice 1957 – 1968
Albert H. Angstman  | (1945–1961)  | Previously served as Associate Justice, 1929–1934, and 1945–1961
Edwin K. Cheadle | (1945–1947)  | Resigned
I. W. Choate | (1947–1949)  | Appointed
Fred L. Gibson | (1947–1948)  | Appointed
Lee Metcalf | (1947–1953)  | Subsequently U.S. Representative, 1953–1961; U.S. Senator, 1961–1978
R. V. Bottomly | (1949–1961)  |
Harrison J. Freebourn | (1949–1954)  |
Forrest H. Anderson | (1953–1956)  | Subsequently served as Governor of Montana, 1969–1973
Horace S. Davis | (1954–1957)  | Appointed
Hugh R. Adair  | (1957–1968)  | Previously served as Associate Justice, 1943–1946 and as Chief Justice, 1947–1956
Wesley Castles | (1957–1977)  | Appointed
Stanley M. Doyle | (1961–1967)  | Appointed; resigned
John C. Harrison | (1961–1994)  | Longest serving justice in history of the court
Frank I. Haswell | (1967–1978)  | Appointed; subsequently served as Chief Justice, 1978–1985
John W. Bonner | (1969–1970)  | Previously Governor of Montana, 1949 to 1953; Died in office, 1970
Gene B. Daly | (1970–1983)  | Appointed, reelected
Daniel J. Shea | (1977–1985)  |
John C. Sheehy | (1978–1991)  | Appointed
Frank B. Morrison | (1981–1987)  | Resigned
Fred J. Weber | (1981–1995)  |
L. C. Gulbrandson | (1983–1989)
William E. Hunt | (1985–2000)  |
R. C. McDonough | (1987–1993)  |
Diane Barz | (1989–1990)  | First woman to serve on the court; resigned
Terry N. Trieweiler | (1991–2003)  |
Karla M. Gray | (1991–2000)  | Subsequently served as Chief Justice, 2000 to 2008
Charles E. Erdmann | (1995–1997)  |
Jim Regnier | (1997–2004)  |
John Warner | (2003–2009)  |
W. William Leaphart | (1995–2010)  | Elected 1994; re-elected 2002  |
James C. Nelson | (1993–2012)  | Appointed by Governor Marc Racicot; elected 1994; re-elected 1996, 2004
Brian Matthew Morris | (2005–2013)  | Elected 2004; re-elected 2012
Patricia O'Brien Cotter | (2001–2016)  | Elected 2000; re-elected 2008
Mike Wheat | (2010–2017)  | Elected in 2010; re-elected 2014

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