A Montana DUI is heard in one of four courts. A misdemeanor (a first, second, or third offense) goes to a justice court, a city court, or a municipal court, depending on where you were arrested and which agency cited you. A felony goes to district court. The court matters because it sets who prosecutes, how the case is recorded, and what an appeal looks like. This page is part of our Montana DUI Guide and goes deeper on one step of the DUI court process.
The Four Courts at a Glance
| Court | Where it exists | DUI matters it hears | Court of record? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Justice court | Every county has at least one, at the county seat (§ 3-10-101(1)). | Misdemeanor DUI charged under state law in the county. Initial appearances on felony charges. | Only if the county has made it one (§ 3-10-101(5)). |
| City court | Every city or town (§ 3-11-101(1)). | Misdemeanors, concurrently with the justice court (§ 3-11-102(1)). | Only if the city has made it one (§ 3-11-101(2)). |
| Municipal court | A city of 4,000 or more that has adopted one by ordinance (§ 3-6-101). | The same misdemeanors a justice court can hear (§ 3-6-103(1)). | Always (§ 3-6-101(1)). |
| District court | Each judicial district. | Felony DUI, misdemeanors charged with a felony, license petitions, and appeals (§§ 3-5-302, 61-8-1017). | Yes. |
Justice Court, City Court, and Municipal Court
These three are called courts of limited jurisdiction. They overlap more than their names suggest. A justice court has jurisdiction over misdemeanors committed in its county (MCA § 3-10-303). A city court has concurrent jurisdiction with the justice court over those same misdemeanors (MCA § 3-11-102(1)). A municipal court, which a city of 4,000 or more may create by ordinance in place of its city court, has jurisdiction "coordinate and coextensive" with the justice courts of its county (MCA §§ 3-6-101, 3-6-103(1)).
One detail in the justice court statute is worth knowing. For a misdemeanor punishable by a fine above $500 or by more than 6 months in jail, the justice court's jurisdiction is concurrent with the district court (MCA § 3-10-303(1)(c)). The fines for impairment, per se, and aggravated DUI all start above $500 (MCA § 61-8-1007(1), (2), (4)), so on the text of the statute a misdemeanor DUI could be filed in either. In practice a misdemeanor DUI is ordinarily filed in the limited-jurisdiction court for the place of arrest, and your citation tells you which one.
So what decides between them? Mostly who made the arrest and where. A city police citation inside city limits generally goes to that city's court. A citation from a sheriff's deputy or a Montana Highway Patrol trooper generally goes to the county's justice court. The prosecutor follows the court: typically the city attorney in a city or municipal court and the county attorney in justice court.
How It Works in Missoula
- Missoula Municipal Court hears citations from Missoula city police.
- Missoula County Justice Court generally hears citations from the Sheriff's Office and the Montana Highway Patrol, and conducts initial appearances on felony charges.
- The Fourth Judicial District Court hears felony DUI, license petitions, and appeals.
If you were arrested elsewhere in Western Montana, the same pattern applies with different names: the justice court at the county seat, and a city or municipal court if the arrest was by a city officer.
When the Charge Is a Felony
A fourth or later DUI is a felony under MCA § 61-8-1008, and the district court has original jurisdiction of all felonies (MCA § 3-5-302(1)(a)). A felony case often begins in a lower court anyway. Justice courts act as "examining and committing courts" (MCA § 3-10-303(1)(e)), and city and municipal judges have the same role (MCA §§ 3-11-102(2), 3-6-103(4)). That means the first appearance, and the first decision about release conditions, can happen in justice court before the case moves up.
A charge in district court must be brought by an information or an indictment (MCA § 46-11-102(1)). In practice the county attorney usually asks the district court for leave to file an information, supported by an affidavit showing probable cause (MCA § 46-11-201). The defendant is then arraigned in district court, because arraignment happens in the court that has trial jurisdiction (MCA § 46-12-102). A felony jury has 12 members, not six (MCA § 46-16-110(1)).
Why a Court of Record Matters
A court of record keeps an electronic recording or a stenographic transcription of its proceedings. That single fact changes the appeal. From a court of record, the district court reviews the record and questions of law. From a justice or city court that is not a court of record, the case is tried again from the start in district court (MCA § 46-17-311(1)).
- Municipal courts are courts of record by statute (MCA § 3-6-101(1)).
- Justice courts are courts of record only where the county has established one, by a resolution of the county commissioners or by a vote (MCA § 3-10-101(5)).
- City courts follow the same rule at the city level (MCA § 3-11-101(2)).
Because the answer turns on local action, do not assume. Missoula County Justice Court's published local rules, effective April 5, 2024, are issued under the name "Missoula County Justice Court of Record." For any other court, and before any appeal decision, confirm the status with the clerk or your attorney. Our page on appealing to district court explains what follows from each answer.
The License Case Is in a Different Court
If you refused a breath, blood, or oral fluid test, the challenge to that suspension is a separate civil petition filed in the district court of the county where the arrest was made, within 30 days after you were given notice (MCA § 61-8-1017(1)). It does not go to the justice or municipal court that has the DUI charge, and that court's calendar does not extend the deadline. See test refusal and implied consent.
What Stays the Same in Every Court
Montana's criminal procedure code applies in all of these courts unless a statute specifically provides a different procedure (MCA § 46-1-103(1)), and practice in municipal court is the same as in district court except where the municipal court statutes say otherwise (MCA § 46-17-401). The elements of the offense, the burden of proof, the penalty ranges, and your right to counsel and to a jury do not depend on which building you walk into. What does vary is local scheduling: how soon hearings are set, whether you must attend each one, and how each judge runs a pretrial calendar. Those are questions for an attorney who appears in that court regularly.
This page explains Montana court structure in general as of the 2025 Montana Code Annotated. Local practice varies by court. It is not legal advice about your specific case.