Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court

	Montana Clerk of Court
	; ; ;
	General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$103,690
Term limits:	None
	Structure
Length of term:	Six years
Authority:	Montana Code Annotated §3-2-401-406
Selection Method:	Elected
	Current Officeholder
	Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court Bowen Greenwood; Republican Party; Assumed office: January 7, 2019
	Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 6, 2018
	Other Montana Judicial Offices
	Montana Supreme Court

The Montana Supreme Court clerk of court is an elected state judicial position in the Montana state government.

The clerk of court controls the state supreme court docket and filings, manages the appellate process, maintains the state supreme court seal, and protects official court records and files.^[1]

Current officeholder

The current clerk is Bowen Greenwood (R). He took office on January 7, 2019.

Authority

The Montana Code Annotated addresses the Montana Supreme Court clerk in Title 3, Chapter 2, Part 4.

Under §3-2-401 of the Montana Code Annotated:

There must be a clerk of the supreme court who must be elected by the electors at large of the state and hold office for the term of 6 years from the first Monday of January following the clerk's election.

Qualifications

A candidate for the Montana Supreme Court clerk of court must be:

at least 18 years of age;
a U.S. citizen.^[2]

Elections

Montana elects the clerk of the supreme court every six years. Legally, the clerk assumes offices the first Monday of January following his or her election.^[3]

2024

General election

General election for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court

Incumbent Bowen Greenwood defeated Erin Farris-Olsen and Roger Roots in the general election for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Bowen Greenwood (R)	56.9	330,503
	Erin Farris-Olsen (D)	38.9	226,105
	Roger Roots (L)	4.2	24,639

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 581,247
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court

Erin Farris-Olsen defeated Jordan Ophus in the Democratic primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court on June 4, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Erin Farris-Olsen	82.8	75,038
	Jordan Ophus	17.2	15,612

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 90,650
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court

Incumbent Bowen Greenwood defeated Jason Ellsworth in the Republican primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bowen Greenwood	52.6	83,379
	Submit photo	Jason Ellsworth	47.4	74,999

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 158,378
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian primary election

The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Roger Roots advanced from the Libertarian primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court.

2018

See also: Montana Supreme Court elections, 2018

General election for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bowen Greenwood (R)	51.5	247,130
	Submit photo	Rex Renk (D)	42.6	204,411
		Roger Roots (L)	6.0	28,760

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 480,301
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Rex Renk	100.0	95,361

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 95,361
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary for Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bowen Greenwood	100.0	124,567

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 124,567
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Duties

The clerk of court is tasked with managing the state supreme court docket and filings and the appellate process, issuing subpoenas, writs, and certificates, licensing attorneys in Montana, maintaining the state supreme court seal, and protecting official court records and files.^[1]

Under §3-2-402 of the Montana Code Annotated:

(1) It is the duty of the clerk to:

(a) keep the seal of the supreme court, its records and files, and the roll of attorneys and counselors at law;

(b) adjourn the court from day to day at the beginning of any term in the absence of any justice and until the arrival of a majority of the justices;

(c) file all papers or transcripts required by law to be filed;

(d) issue writs and certificates and approve bonds or undertakings when required;

(e) make out all transcripts to the supreme court of the United States;

(f) make copies of papers or records when demanded by law or the rules of the court; and

(g) perform other duties as may be required by law and the rules and practice of the supreme court.

(2) The clerk may elect to keep court documents by means of electronic filing or storage, or both, as provided in 3-1-114 and 3-1-115, in lieu of or in addition to keeping paper records.

Historical officeholders

Note: Ballotpedia researches state official websites for chronological lists of historical officeholders; information for the Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court has not yet been added because the information was unavailable on the relevant state official websites, or we are currently in the process of formatting the list for this office. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court - Google News

Contact information

Address:
Room 323, Justice Building
215 N. Sanders
P.O. Box 203003
Helena, Montana 59620-3003

Phone: 406-444-3858
Fax: 406-444-5705

External links

Suggest a link

Footnotes

Montana courts

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

v • e

Montana Supreme Court
Judicial selection in Montana • 2024 elections • Courts in Montana

Current judges

Beth Baker, Katherine M. Bidegaray, Bowen Greenwood, Ingrid Gayle Gustafson, Laurie McKinnon, James A. Rice, Jim Shea, Cory Swanson

Former judges

Mike McGrath, James Nelson, Patricia O'Brien Cotter, Dirk M. Sandefur, Michael E. Wheat

[duty-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Montana Judicial Branch, "Who We Are," accessed May 14, 2020

[Q-2] Montana Secretary of State, "2018 Offices, Qualifications, and Fees," accessed May 18, 2020

[3] Montana Code Annotated, "§3-2-401," accessed May 15, 2020

[1]

[2]

[3]

Montana Clerk of Court

General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$103,690
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	Six years
Authority:	Montana Code Annotated §3-2-401-406
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court Bowen Greenwood Republican Party Assumed office: January 7, 2019
Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 6, 2018
Other Montana Judicial Offices
Montana Supreme Court

Montana	Judicial Selection	More Courts

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Montana Supreme Court Clerk of Court

Contents

Current officeholder

Authority

Qualifications

Elections