List of justices of the Montana Supreme Court#Chief justices
{{short description|None}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
Following is a list of justices of the Montana Supreme Court.
Current members
| width=100% align=center cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0 |
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Chief Justice
! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Term began ! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Term expires ! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Notes |
|---|
| width=175px|Cory Swanson
| align=center width=100px|2025 | align=center width=100px|2032 |Elected 2024 |
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Associate Justice
! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Term began ! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Term expires ! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Notes |
| Laurie McKinnon
| align=center |2013 | align=center |2028 | Elected 2012 |
| James A. Rice
| align=center |2014 | align=center |2030 |Appointed by Governor Judy Martz; elected 2002; re-elected 2006; re-elected 2014; re-elected 2022 |
| Beth Baker
| align=center |2011 | align=center |2026 |Elected 2010 |
| Jim Shea
| align=center |2017 | align=center |2028 |Appointed by Governor Steve Bullock, 2014; elected 2016 |
| Katherine M. Bidegaray
| align=center |2025 | align=center |2032 |Elected 2024 |
| Ingrid Gustafson
| align=center |2018 | align=center |2030 |Appointed by Governor Steve Bullock, 2018; elected 2022 |
Former members
=Chief justices=
==Montana Territorial Supreme Court==
| width=100% align=center cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 |
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Chief Justice
! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Term served ! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Notes |
|---|
| width=175px|Hezekiah L. Hosmer
|width=100px|(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 |
| valign=top|Henry N. Blake
|valign=top|(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==
| width=100% align=center cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 |
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Chief Justice
! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Term served ! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Notes |
|---|
| valign=top width=175px|Henry N. Blake
|valign=top width=100px|(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
|(2009–2025) | Elected |
| |Cory Swanson
|(2025– ) | Elected |
==Associate justices==
===Montana Territorial Supreme Court===
| width=100% align=center cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 |
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Associate Justice
! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Term served ! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Notes |
|---|
| valign=top width=175px|Ammi Giddings
|valign=top width=100px|(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===
| width=100% align=center cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 |
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Associate Justice
! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Term served ! bgcolor=#EEEEEE |Notes |
|---|
| valign=top width=175px|William H. DeWitt
|valign=top width=100px|(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 |
| Dirk Sandefur
|(2017–2025) |Elected in 2016 |