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Dirk M. Sandefur
Dirk M. Sandefur was a judge of the Montana Supreme Court. He assumed office in 2017. He left office on December 31, 2024.
Sandefur ran for election for judge of the Montana Supreme Court. He won in the general election on November 8, 2016.
Sandefur became a member of the court through a nonpartisan election. He was elected to this court in November 2016 for a term that began on January 1, 2017, and ends on December 31, 2024, and succeeded retired Justice Patricia O'Brien Cotter. To read more about judicial selection in Montana, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[1] Sandefur received a confidence score of Indeterminate.[2] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Sandefur received his B.S. from the University of Montana and his J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law.[3] Sandefur began his career as a police officer in the 1980s. After serving for three years, he attended the University of Montana for law school. After graduating, he served as a deputy county attorney and county attorney. He was elected to a newly created seat on the 8th Judicial District Court in 2002.[4]
Elections
2024
- See also: Montana Supreme Court elections, 2024
Dirk M. Sandefur did not file to run for re-election.
2016
Sandefur ran in 2016 for the seat on the Montana Supreme Court held by retiring Justice Patricia O'Brien Cotter. He faced opponents Kristen Juras and Eric Mills in the June 7 primary.[5][6] Sandefur and Juras were the top two finishers and faced each other in the November 8 general election.
Election results
November 8 general election
| Montana Supreme Court, Seat 3, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Dirk M. Sandefur |
56.13% | 254,811 |
| Kristen Juras | 43.87% | 199,148 |
| Total Votes (686 of 686 precincts reporting: 100%) | 453,959 | |
| Source: Montana Secretary of State | ||
June 7 primary
| Montana Supreme Court Primary, Seat 3, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Kristen Juras |
44.10% | 100,846 |
| Dirk M. Sandefur |
34.48% | 78,855 |
| Eric Mills | 21.41% | 48,965 |
| Total Votes (686 of 686 precincts reporting: 100%) | 228,666 | |
| Source: Montana Secretary of State Official Results | ||
Campaign finance
In his campaign finance report of May 23, Sandefur reported raising $83,994.47 for the primary, with expenditures of $11,737.71.[7]
2014
Sandefur was retained to the 8th District Court with 88.7 percent of the vote on November 4, 2014.He ran unopposed in the primary on June 3, 2014.[8]
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[9]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[10]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Dirk
Sandefur
Montana
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Indeterminate - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Donated less than $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Received donations from Democrat-affiliated individuals or organizations
- Endorsed by Democratic-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Sandefur donated $100 to Republican candidates. He received campaign contributions from the Dem-Treasure State PAC, Northwest Energy, and Montana State Council of Professional Fire fighters all of which contribute to Democratic campaigns more frequently than to Republicans. He was endorsed by MEA-MFT, the Montana AFL-CIO, Montana Conservation Voters, all of which endorse Democratic candidates more frequently than Republicans.
Noteworthy cases
Noteworthy cases may be selected due to their impact on legal precedent, substantial media attention, or overlaps with another area of editorial interest at Ballotpedia. To suggest cases we should cover here, email us.
State supreme court judicial selection in Montana
- See also: Judicial selection in Montana
The seven justices on the Montana Supreme Court are selected through nonpartisan elections to eight-year terms. When their terms expire, justices must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court. If unopposed, a justice must stand for a yes-no retention election.[11][12]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
- a U.S. citizen;
- a state resident for at least two years; and
- licensed to practice law in the state for at least five years.[11]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the court is selected through a nonpartisan election to an eight-year term.[11]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor is responsible for appointing a new justice to the court. Once confirmed by the Montana state Senate, the justice will hold office until the next regular election. At that time, the appointed justice will be able to run for re-election or retention to complete the remainder of the unexpired term.[12]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ Martindale, "Hon. Dirk M. Sandefur," accessed October 17, 2014
- ↑ KRTV, "Montana Supreme Court candidate profile: Dirk Sandefur," accessed March 15, 2016
- ↑ KPAX.com, "Money piles up in 2016 Montana Supreme Court race," accessed January 26, 2016
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "2016 candidate filing list: Non-Legislative," accessed March 15, 2016
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "Campaign Electronic Finance Reporting System," accessed May 24, 2016
- ↑ Montana Secretary of State, "2014 Candidate Filing List: Non-Legislative," accessed March 31, 2014
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed August 11, 2021
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Montana State Legislature, "The Constitution of the state of Montana," accessed August 11, 2021 (Article VII, part VII, section 8)
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Montana • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Montana
State courts:
Montana Supreme Court • Montana District Courts • Montana Courts of Limited Jurisdiction • Montana Water Court • Montana Workers' Compensation Court
State resources:
Courts in Montana • Montana judicial elections • Judicial selection in Montana
