Montana Court Rules (2026)
We publish 23 sets of Montana court rules, totaling 639 rules. Montana is one of the few states whose court rules are codified inside the statute code: the Supreme Court promulgates them, but they are printed and maintained as Montana Code Annotated locations, so Rule 56 lives at MCA 25-20-56 and is cited "M. R. Civ. P. 56". There is no intermediate appellate court, and the notice of appeal is filed with the SUPREME COURT clerk rather than the trial court — the deadline trap that catches visiting counsel most often. Motion briefing comes from the Uniform District Court Rules, not the civil rules. Coverage runs from civil, appellate and evidence through the justice, city and municipal court sets, and includes professional conduct, judicial conduct, bar admission and discipline, the Workers' Compensation Court and the Water Court's adjudication and claim examination rules. Montana's criminal procedure is statutory, at MCA Title 46, rather than a set of rules. Each rule includes the full text, a plain-English summary, committee notes, amendment history, and cross-references to related rules.
Montana Court Rules & Rules of Practice
How this jurisdiction's courts and rules are organized, written for lawyers new to it: the court system, every ruleset a litigator touches, and how a case actually moves. Last verified September 24, 2026. For informational purposes only.
- Court System Overview
- The Ruleset Map
- Civil Litigation Mechanics
- Criminal Practice Mechanics
- Evidence
- Appellate Mechanics
- Rules of Professional Conduct
- Attorney Discipline & Enforcement
- Newcomer Orientation Notes
- Sources & Verification
Montana Rules of Civil Procedure
Montana's civil rules, codified at MCA Title 25, chapter 20 and restyled in 2011 to track the Federal Rules — so federal instincts mostly carry over, and the answer is due 21 days after service under Rule 12(a)(1)(A). What does not carry over is where the rules live: you find and cite them through the code, at mca.legmt.gov, not in a separate rules volume. Motion briefing is not here either — it comes from the Uniform District Court Rules.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Rules of Professional Conduct
Model Rules-based, adopted in 2019 and effective January 1, 2020, cited in Montana usage as "MRPC 3.3". Published here with the Preamble, which Montana rewrote: its first line — "A lawyer shall always pursue the truth" — is a mandatory formulation that has no counterpart in the ABA model text. Enforcement runs through the Office of Disciplinary Counsel and the Commission on Practice to the Supreme Court.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Rules of Evidence
Adopted in 1977 and codified at MCA Title 26, chapter 10, cited "M. R. Evid. 702". Federal Rules-influenced but numbered in its own series running from Rule 100. Montana is NOT a full Daubert state: under Hulse v. State the Daubert test applies only to novel scientific evidence, and everything else is analysed under the liberal-admission approach of Barmeyer v. Montana Power Co.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Code of Judicial Conduct
The 2014 code, organised into four Canons, published here with its Preamble, Terminology and Application sections — the last of which decides how much of the Code binds a part-time or pro tempore judge, and is easy to miss because it is not numbered as a Rule. Complaints go to the Judicial Standards Commission.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of the Workers' Compensation Court
Montana has a dedicated Workers' Compensation Court, moved into the judicial branch at MCA Title 3, chapter 9, and its decisions are appealed DIRECTLY to the Supreme Court under 3-9-107. These rules, numbered in the Administrative Rules of Montana series 24.5, cover the petition for trial, response, discovery, pretrial procedure and trial before the single Workers' Compensation Judge.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Rules on Arbitration of Fee Disputes
The State Bar's programme for arbitrating fee disputes between Montana attorneys and their clients. Any disputed amount of $500 or more may be arbitrated; a filed petition suspends other collection proceedings, and under Rule 5.8 no party may withdraw once arbitration has begun. Note that the published rules number two different sections "I".
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseWater Right Claim Examination Rules
The technical rules the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation applies when it examines a water right claim for the Water Court — flow rate, volume, period of use, place of use and point of diversion — organised by class of claim: irrigation, domestic, stockwater and the rest. This is where an abstract's issue remarks come from.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Rules of Appellate Procedure
Every Montana appeal — civil, criminal, water, workers' compensation — goes to the Supreme Court, because there is no intermediate appellate court. The genuine outlier is Rule 4: the notice of appeal is filed WITH THE SUPREME COURT CLERK, not the trial court, and trial-court filing habits from other states will blow the deadline. Civil appeals run 30 days from entry (60 if the State is a party), criminal 60 days, cross-appeals 15. Rule 14 supervisory control is Montana's writ substitute.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseWater Right Adjudication Rules
The Montana Water Court runs a single statewide adjudication of water rights, and general civil courts do not decide claims inside it. These rules, adopted by the Supreme Court, govern objections, motions and hearings in that adjudication, including the effect of a claim filed in the statewide filing.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Uniform District Court Rules
The statewide practice overlay for Montana's 22 judicial districts, at MCA Title 25, chapter 19. This is where the mechanics live that practitioners expect to find in the civil rules: Rule 1 on the form of papers, Rule 2 on motions and the 14-day briefing cycle, and Rule 13 requiring out-of-state counsel to associate resident Montana counsel with authority to bind the party. Rule 15 lets each district add local rules on top.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Justice and City Court Rules of Civil Procedure
A separate, simplified civil set for the courts of limited jurisdiction, at MCA Title 25, chapter 23. District court practice runs on the Montana Rules of Civil Procedure; justice and city courts run on these instead, and using the wrong set is a common newcomer error. Civil jurisdiction in those courts is capped at $15,000.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Uniform Rules for the Justice and City Courts
The administrative and courtroom-practice companion to the justice and city court civil rules, at MCA Title 25, chapter 24 — allocation of cases in multi-judge courts, custody of files and exhibits, voir dire and time computation. Read alongside chapter 23, not instead of it.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Uniform Municipal Court Rules of Appeal to District Court
How a municipal court judgment gets to district court, at MCA Title 25, chapter 30A. The route depends on whether the court below is a court of record: appeals from a court of record proceed ON THE RECORD, while appeals from a court that is not are tried anew. Rule 2 limits the district court's review accordingly.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of the Judicial Standards Commission
Procedure for complaints against Montana judges, from the filing of a complaint through investigation, formal proceedings and recommendation to the Supreme Court, which imposes any discipline. Amended most recently in November 2024.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of Procedure for the Montana Medical Legal Panel
Montana requires a malpractice claim against a health care provider to go before the Medical Legal Panel before suit. These rules cover the application, filing fees, the panel's composition and powers, the hearing, and the effect of the panel's decision on a later court action.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Rules for Continuing Legal Education
Mandatory CLE in Montana: the annual credit requirement, what qualifies, reporting, exemptions including emeritus status, and the consequences of non-compliance. Administered by the CLE Commission.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules for Admission to the State Bar of Montana
Admission by examination, by transfer of a Uniform Bar Examination score, and on motion, plus the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination and Montana Law Seminar requirements. Rule VI governs pro hac vice appearance — the application goes to the State Bar of Montana, not the court, and Montana local counsel must sign all pleadings and participate actively.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Student Practice Rules
What an eligible law student may do — appear in court, counsel clients, sign documents — and under whose supervision. Certification runs through the law school dean and the Supreme Court.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules of Procedure of the Committee on Character and Fitness of the State Bar of Montana
How the Committee on Character and Fitness investigates and decides an applicant's moral character and fitness to practise, including hearings, the burden on the applicant, and review of an adverse determination.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction Training and Certification of Judges
Montana does not require a justice of the peace or city judge to be a lawyer, so it requires certification instead. These rules set the training a new judge must complete, the temporary certificate that covers the interval, and the continuing judicial education needed to stay certified.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseMontana Board of Bar Examiners' Rules
The Board's own rules on the content, administration and grading of the bar examination, testing accommodations, and conduct at the exam.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules for the Disqualification and Substitution of Judges
Published by the Judicial Branch as a rule set but codified as statute at MCA Title 3, chapter 1, part 8. Section 3-1-804 is the one to know: substitution of a district judge without cause, on a timely motion, is a right rather than a matter for the judge's discretion. Section 3-1-805 covers disqualification for cause and 3-1-803 states the categories that bar any judicial officer from sitting.
Updated 2026 Edition
BrowseRules for the Regulation of the Practice of Law in the Courts of Montana by Attorneys at Law
A short 2011 order adopted after the Supreme Court dissolved the Commission on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, defining who may appear as an attorney at law in the courts of Montana and on what terms.
Updated 2026 Edition
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