Montana Family Law, DUI and Crash Statistics
By A&M Law · Published November 12, 2026
Missoula County District Court logged 6,206 new and reopened cases in 2025, down from 6,449 in 2024, including 1,373 criminal cases and 1,140 domestic relations cases, the court category that includes divorce.
Key numbers
6,206
new and reopened cases in Missoula County District Court in 2025 (6,449 in 2024): 1,373 criminal, 1,140 domestic relations
Source: Montana Judicial Branch, district court filings, 2025
383
order of protection cases filed in Missoula County's justice and municipal courts in 2025; 4,112 in all Montana courts of limited jurisdiction
Source: Montana Judicial Branch, courts of limited jurisdiction, civil filings, 2025
11.8%
of Missoula County residents 15 and older are divorced (Ravalli 14.4%, Lake 12.7%, Montana 12.3%)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024, table B12001
188
Missoula County crashes in 2025 in which law enforcement suspected a driver of alcohol or drug use, of 2,604 crashes
Source: Montana Department of Transportation crash database, 2025
16
people died in Missoula County crashes in 2025; 203 died in crashes across Montana
Source: Montana Department of Transportation crash database, 2025
77%
of family cases closed by Montana district courts in 2025 were closed within the courts' 270-day time standard
Source: Montana Judicial Branch, Statewide Case Processing Measures, 2025
This page collects public numbers on the kinds of cases A&M Law handles in Western Montana: family law, DUI and criminal cases, and car crashes. Each figure names its source and period, and the data behind the page is free to download.
We will update it as the Montana Judicial Branch, the Montana Department of Transportation and the Census Bureau release new data.
Our studies behind these numbers
- Divorce and family cases in Missoula County courts, 2015 to 2025: eleven years of domestic relations filings, per resident, for Missoula, Ravalli, Lake and the state's larger counties.
- Impaired-driving crashes in Missoula County, 2016 to 2025: when crashes with a driver suspected of alcohol or drugs happen, how severe they are and where the drivers are from.
- Winter crashes on Missoula-area roads, 2016 to 2025: crashes on icy, snowy or slushy roads by month, year and severity.
Family law
Domestic relations cases, the district court category that includes divorce, were 18% of Missoula County District Court's 6,206 new and reopened cases in 2025. Statewide, district courts closed 77% of family cases within their 270-day time standard. Protection orders are often filed in justice, city and municipal courts: Missoula County's two courts of limited jurisdiction took 383 order of protection cases in 2025. Our Montana Domestic Violence Guide and Montana Divorce Guide explain the process.
District court cases by type, 2024 and 2025
New and reopened cases in each county's district court, from the Montana Judicial Branch's yearly filing tables.
| Case type | Missoula 2025 (2024) | Ravalli 2025 (2024) | Lake 2025 (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal | 1,373 (1,528) | 305 (349) | 319 (357) |
| Civil | 1,908 (1,830) | 745 (695) | 526 (485) |
| Domestic relations (includes divorce) | 1,140 (1,171) | 354 (324) | 187 (167) |
| Probate | 288 (274) | 156 (148) | 82 (90) |
| Youth court (juvenile) | 151 (146) | 16 (36) | 3 (7) |
| Abuse and neglect | 110 (127) | 17 (11) | 10 (14) |
| Guardianship and conservatorship | 160 (168) | 60 (62) | 16 (21) |
| Commitment | 179 (245) | 12 (18) | 15 (9) |
| Investigative subpoenas and search warrants | 843 (909) | 137 (200) | 54 (136) |
| Adoption | 47 (49) | 25 (29) | 15 (16) |
| Paternity | 6 (2) | 0 (0) | 0 (1) |
| Developmental disability | 1 (0) | 1 (4) | 0 (0) |
| All case types | 6,206 (6,449) | 1,828 (1,876) | 1,227 (1,303) |
Calendar years. Domestic relations covers dissolution of marriage, legal separation, parenting plans, custody and other family matters, and includes reopened cases.
Order of protection cases filed in courts of limited jurisdiction, 2025
Justice, city and municipal courts in Missoula, Ravalli and Lake counties.
| Court | County | Order of protection cases |
|---|---|---|
| Missoula County Justice Court of Record | Missoula | 117 |
| Missoula Municipal Court | Missoula | 266 |
| Missoula County courts listed | Missoula | 383 |
| Ravalli County Justice Court | Ravalli | 108 |
| Hamilton City Court of Record | Ravalli | 11 |
| Darby City Court | Ravalli | 1 |
| Ravalli County courts listed | Ravalli | 120 |
| Lake County Justice Court | Lake | 68 |
| Polson City Court | Lake | 3 |
| Ronan City Court | Lake | 0 |
| Lake County courts listed | Lake | 71 |
| All Montana courts of limited jurisdiction | Montana | 4,112 |
From the Judicial Branch's 2025 table of civil cases filed in courts of limited jurisdiction. District courts also hear protection order cases; they are not in this table.
Population and divorced residents
| Area | Population, July 1, 2025 | Residents 15 and older | Divorced | Share divorced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missoula | 123,513 | 102,818 | 12,105 | 11.8% |
| Ravalli | 48,582 | 39,680 | 5,718 | 14.4% |
| Lake | 33,392 | 26,807 | 3,393 | 12.7% |
| Montana | 1,144,694 | 924,536 | 113,334 | 12.3% |
Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimates. Marital status: American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2020 to 2024 (table B12001); "divorced" means currently divorced and not remarried. ACS figures are survey estimates with margins of error.
DUI and crashes
In 2025 law enforcement suspected a driver of alcohol or drug use in 188 of Missoula County's 2,604 crashes, and 16 people died in crashes in the county. Montana had 21,074 crashes, in which 203 people died. See the Montana DUI Guide and our page for people hurt in a car accident in Missoula.
Crashes in 2025
| Area | Crashes | Driver suspected of alcohol or drugs | Fatal crashes | Deaths (2024) | On ice or frost, snow or slush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missoula | 2,604 | 188 | 12 | 16 (15) | 393 |
| Ravalli | 805 | 48 | 10 | 11 (4) | 96 |
| Lake | 536 | 50 | 7 | 10 (9) | 67 |
| Montana | 21,074 | 1,716 | 179 | 203 (209) | 4,401 |
Montana Department of Transportation crash database, extract updated October 8, 2026. Recent records can still change.
Traffic deaths by year, 2016 to 2025
| Year | Missoula County | Ravalli County | Lake County | Montana (MDT) | Montana (NHTSA FARS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 190 | 190 |
| 2017 | 17 | 1 | 9 | 186 | 186 |
| 2018 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 181 | 181 |
| 2019 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 184 | 184 |
| 2020 | 16 | 3 | 10 | 212 | 213 |
| 2021 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 243 | 239 |
| 2022 | 24 | 4 | 11 | 220 | 215 |
| 2023 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 208 | 208 |
| 2024 | 15 | 4 | 9 | 209 | 206 (preliminary) |
| 2025 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 203 | not yet released |
People killed in crashes, from MDT's crash database, with NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System for comparison. The two count slightly differently (FARS counts deaths within 30 days of a crash on a public road), so a few years differ by a handful of deaths. The FARS figure for 2024 is preliminary.
How we did this
District court figures come from the Montana Judicial Branch's yearly tables of new and reopened district court cases, which we transcribed and checked row by row (see the family court study for details). Order of protection figures come from the Judicial Branch's 2025 table of civil cases filed in courts of limited jurisdiction; a script checks that every court's case types add up to its total and that the courts add up to the printed statewide total.
Crash figures use the Montana Department of Transportation's crash database extract for 2016 to 2025 (updated October 8, 2026), with the same definitions as our crash studies. Montana traffic deaths for 2016 to 2024 are also shown from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System for comparison; the 2024 FARS file is preliminary.
Population is the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 county estimate. The divorced share is from the American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2020 to 2024 (table B12001, residents 15 and older).
A separate script re-checks the headline and key figures against fresh copies of the court tables, the Census Bureau's published subject table on marital status (S1201), NHTSA FARS and MDT's crash map service.
Limits
- Montana's crime statistics (Montana Board of Crime Control dashboards) are not included yet: they are published as interactive dashboards, and we did not want to publish figures whose filters and agency coverage we could not confirm.
- Court tables count cases filed, not outcomes, and do not separate DUI from other criminal cases.
- Order of protection counts cover courts of limited jurisdiction only. District courts also hear these cases, and those are not counted here.
- ACS figures are survey estimates with margins of error, averaged over 2020 to 2024.
- Crash data is collected for safety analysis. Under federal law (23 U.S.C. 407), this crash data can't be discovered or admitted as evidence in court, or considered in a lawsuit for damages; it describes patterns only.
Sources
- Montana Judicial Branch: Montana District Courts 2025 New Case Filings and Reopened Cases (2025, with 2024 totals)
- Montana Judicial Branch: Montana District Courts 2024 New Case Filings and Reopened Cases (2024)
- Montana Judicial Branch: Statewide Case Processing Measures, Jan-Dec 2025 (2025)
- Montana Judicial Branch: Courts of Limited Jurisdiction, Civil Violations Filed, Calendar Year 2025 (2025)
- Montana Department of Transportation: Crash Data (crash and person tables) (2016 to 2025, extract updated October 8, 2026)
- NHTSA: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) national files (2016 to 2024 (2024 preliminary))
- U.S. Census Bureau: American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B12001 (marital status) (2020 to 2024)
- U.S. Census Bureau: County Population Totals, Vintage 2025 (July 1, 2025)
Cite this study
A&M Law. "Montana Family Law, DUI and Crash Statistics." Updated November 12, 2026. https://www.mymontanalawyer.com/research/montana-legal-statistics/. Data: Montana Judicial Branch; Montana Department of Transportation; NHTSA FARS; U.S. Census Bureau.
The data behind this page is free to use with credit to A&M Law and a link to this page, under a CC BY 4.0 license.
- Download the data (CSV): All figures on this page, by measure, area and period
Crash figures: Under federal law (23 U.S.C. 407), this crash data can't be discovered or admitted as evidence in court, or considered in a lawsuit for damages; it describes patterns only.
Related
This page reports public data. It is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every situation turns on its own facts.
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