Visit and Learn with the Court

The District of Montana holds court in Billings, Butte, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula. Courthouse tours are welcome.  For more information, contact the clerk's office in the appropriate division.

Annual Court-Related Events

The court celebrates several events throughout the year. Such programs include:

•  Montana Judicial Institute

•  Ninth Circuit Civics Contest  The Ninth Circuit Civics Contest is a circuit-wide essay and video competition for high school students sponsored by the Ninth Circuit’s Public Information and Community Outreach committee and the 15 judicial districts that make up the Ninth Circuit.  Since the contest began in 2014, each district selects its top essays and videos to advance to the circuit level for the preliminary round.  A list of 9^th Circuit winners and District winners from 2014 to present can be found here:  https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/civicscontest/.

Lesson Plans

A variety of lesson plans are available for classroom use or to incorporate into your courthouse visit.

• U.S. Courts Educational Outreach

• Center for Civic Education

• iCivics

• USA.gov

• Judges: Separation of Powers Protects Bill of Rights

• First Amendment in Schools

Infographics

Structure of Federal Courts
Understanding the structure and function of the federal court system provides context for how justice is administered at the federal level.

• Structure of the federal courts
• Types of cases handled in federal courts
• Differences between federal and state court systems
• How federal and state court cases get to the Supreme Court

• How a criminal case moves through the courts
• Differences between trial juries and grand juries
• Steps in a criminal trial
• Factors considered in sentencing

• Types of judges in the federal courts
• The job of U.S. magistrate judges
• Roles of citizens in the federal court system