By Kathleen Shannon - Producer, Contact - News
Big Sky Connection - A new Montana Senate committee brought 27 bills this session to curb judicial power in the state. Many have failed, including those that sought to make the state's judicial elections partisan. Comments by Jim Manley, retired district court judge, Lake and Sanders Counties.
Click on the image above for the audio. Among those who voted down Montana House Bill 838, which would have state Supreme Court candidates to identify a political party while running, were Rep. Marta Bertoglio, R-Clancy; Rep. Sherry Essmann, R-Billings; and Valerie Moore, R-Plentywood. (Adobe Stock)
Kathleen Shannon
A handful of Montana bills pushing for partisan judicial elections as part of a broader movement in the state were defeated this month.
Montana law has required judicial elections to be nonpartisan for 90 years, since 1935. Proponents argued partisan elections would be more transparent. Opponents said it is one move in a larger effort to curb judicial power.
Jim Manley was a district court judge in Lake and Sanders Counties until he retired in 2022. He said it is vital judges be respected for their independence.
"Destroying that independence and respect has far-reaching negative effects," Manley contended. "I don't know if some of these politicians don't care about that. But that's the concern among judges and many other people."
He argued electing partisan judges would imply bias in courtrooms and decisions. He noted it could increase electoral spending, which has already skyrocketed in recent years. The Senate Select Committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform, created last year, brought 27 such bills to the current session. Only one has passed so far.
Interest groups have targeted judicial elections because of the hot-button issues they sometimes have to decide. Abortion and the environment are examples.
"You can't just take that authority away from the judicial branch to discipline judges or to determine what they can do," Manley stressed.
The effort to curb judicial power is unpopular. Only 20% of Montanans surveyed earlier this year said courts have too much authority.
Montana's new Supreme Court Chief Justice Cory Swanson, who has a conservative background, urged lawmakers in his 2025 State of the Judiciary address to keep elections nonpartisan and, quote, "reject legislation that will undermine the effective functioning of the judiciary." He said, "It will ultimately harm Montana citizens."
