Two things decide it: the type of charge and the place of the arrest.

• Justice Court takes misdemeanors from across the county. On its own it handles crimes punishable by no more than a $500 fine or 6 months locked up, plus fish and game cases up to $1,000. It shares bigger misdemeanors with District Court (MCA 3-10-303).
• Scobey City Court takes town ordinance cases and can also hear misdemeanors from inside town (MCA 3-11-102).
• District Court takes every felony (MCA 3-5-302). Montana defines a felony as any crime punishable by over a year in a state prison.
• Youth Court, run inside District Court, takes cases for people under 18.
• Fort Peck Tribal Court takes many cases against Indians on reservation land.

Felonies begin in Justice Court. That judge sets bail and may hold the probable cause hearing before the case moves up.

Four offices handle criminal cases, all a short walk apart:

• Justice of the Peace and City Judge (mailing box 838): 213 Main Street, Scobey, MT 59263, 406-487-5432.
• Clerk of District Court (mailing box 67): 213 Main Street, Scobey, MT 59263, 406-487-2651, email clerkofcourt.daniels@mt.gov.
• District judge's chambers (mailing box 830): 217 Main Street, Scobey, MT 59263, 406-487-2738.
• County Attorney (mailing box 455): 213 Main Street, Scobey, MT 59263, 406-487-2641.

Office hours can change, so phone before you make the drive.

The town's city judge is the same person who serves as Justice of the Peace, and both courts share one office and phone line. City court handles breaks of town ordinances and may hear state misdemeanors that took place inside city limits.

A felony complaint can be filed in city court too. In that case the city judge acts much like a justice of the peace for the early steps, and the County Attorney takes charge once the case heads to District Court (MCA 3-11-102).

The County Attorney prosecutes misdemeanors that happen outside incorporated towns. In-town misdemeanors are handled by a city attorney instead. To learn who that is, call the court at 406-487-5432. Cases from Flaxville and the rural parts of the county are heard in Justice Court.

Montana splits its district courts into 22 judicial districts (MCA 3-5-101). The 15th serves three counties in the northeast corner of the state: this one, Roosevelt and Sheridan. The district judge's chambers are in Scobey at 217 Main Street, Scobey, MT 59263, 406-487-2738.

District Court is where felonies are tried, youth cases are heard and many appeals from Justice Court land. Each county in the district keeps its own Clerk of District Court. For a case filed here, the clerk's line is 406-487-2651. Ask the clerk which days the judge will be in Scobey for your case.

The county runs no lockup, so someone who can't get out on bail is kept in a jail in another county. Call the Sheriff's Office at 406-487-2691 to learn which one. Likely choices:

• Valley County Detention Center in Glasgow, 406-228-4333, extension 2, staffed around the clock
• Roosevelt County jail in Wolf Point, through county dispatch at 406-653-6242
• Sheridan County hold jail in Plentywood, 406-765-3400, used for short stays

Being held far away does not stop the case. Montana allows first appearances and bail hearings over two-way video (MCA 46-7-101, MCA 46-9-201). Even so, the judge may require the person to appear in the courtroom.

An arrested person must appear before a judge "without unnecessary delay" (MCA 46-7-101). For most cases here, that is the Justice of the Peace. At that hearing the judge must explain (MCA 46-7-102):

• each charge the person faces
• the right to a lawyer, and to an appointed one if they can't pay
• the general rules for release before trial
• the right to stay quiet, and that any statement can be used at trial
• that a guilty verdict can mean losing gun rights under state and federal law
• in a felony complaint case, the right to a judge's ruling on whether probable cause exists

The bail decision is made at this hearing too (MCA 46-9-109).

Outside town limits, the County Attorney files the complaint in Justice Court. Inside Scobey, a city attorney may file it in city court. Then the case goes like this:

1. The defendant enters a plea.
2. With a not guilty plea, the court picks a trial date. Either side may ask for a jury of six (MCA 46-17-201).
3. If trial hasn't begun 6 months after the plea, the judge must dismiss the case, unless the defense caused the delay or there is good cause (MCA 46-13-401).

Sample penalties under state law:

• DUI, first offense: at least 24 straight hours and up to 6 months behind bars, plus $600 to $1,000 (MCA 61-8-1007)
• Theft of property worth no more than $1,500: as much as 6 months in jail, a $1,500 fine, or both (MCA 45-6-301)
• Partner or family member assault, first offense: from 24 hours to one year in jail and $100 to $1,000 (MCA 45-5-206)
• Misdemeanors where the law names no other penalty: 6 months and $500 at most (MCA 46-18-212)

Judges may put off, or defer, the sentence on a misdemeanor for as long as one year. Meet all the terms, and the charge can be dismissed (MCA 46-18-204).

File quickly. A notice of appeal is due 10 days after judgment is entered following a trial (MCA 46-17-311). The appeal goes to District Court.

How the appeal runs depends on the lower court. If it is not a court of record, District Court tries the whole case again from the start, and the person can ask for a jury of six. If it is a court of record, District Court reviews the record of what already happened instead of holding a new trial.

Before the 10 days run out, call the Justice Court at 406-487-5432. Ask which kind of appeal applies and what forms are needed. A lawyer can help you meet the deadline.

Expect roughly five stages in a felony:

1. Opening hearing. The Justice of the Peace takes up bail and release.
2. Evidence check. In Justice Court, a preliminary hearing tests whether the evidence is strong enough. It doesn't happen if the person waives it, or if District Court gives the County Attorney leave to file the charging paper directly. That paper is known as an information (MCA 46-10-105, MCA 46-11-201).
3. Arraignment in District Court. In open court, the charge is read aloud. The person must have a written copy before answering guilty or not guilty (MCA 46-12-201).
4. Trial. A felony jury has 12 people, unless both sides waive a jury in writing (MCA 46-16-110). All twelve must agree.
5. Sentencing after a conviction, whether by plea or verdict.

Unless another law says otherwise, the top sentence for a felony is 10 years in prison and a fine of $50,000 (MCA 46-18-213). Theft above $1,500 has the same 10-year top. Possession of dangerous drugs can bring up to 5 years, though the law presumes a first offender should get a deferred sentence (MCA 45-9-102).

The law adds extra steps when someone is hurt or threatened:

• A judge first. Before any release, a judge has to see people charged with stalking, with hurting or choking a partner or relative, or with ignoring a protective or no-contact order (MCA 46-9-302). Schedule bail at the jail is not an option for these.
• No-contact orders. After a partner assault arrest, a no-contact order of up to 1,500 feet lasts 72 hours, or until the first court appearance (MCA 45-5-209).
• Monitors. For felony stalking, felony partner assault and some repeat cases, judges are expected to use electronic monitoring where it exists (MCA 46-9-108).
• Victim notice. The jail must alert the alleged victim when the person is let out on bail in these cases.
• Tougher penalties. By the third partner assault, the charge is a felony that can carry 5 years (MCA 45-5-206).
• No deferred felony for anyone with an earlier felony conviction (MCA 46-18-201).

The County Attorney prosecutes every felony in the county and the misdemeanors that happen outside town limits. The office also stands up for victims and helps them seek restitution. It is in the courthouse at 213 Main Street, Scobey, MT 59263, 406-487-2641. Once a defendant has a lawyer, every contact with this office must go through that lawyer.

If the County Attorney can't take a case because of a conflict, the state's Prosecution Services Bureau, part of the Attorney General's office, may handle it. Its line is 406-444-2026.

The state public defender's Region 3 office in Glendive serves this county: 100 1/2 S. Merrill, Suite 3, Glendive, MT 59330, 406-987-6010. Applications go through advopd.mt.gov. The court then reviews whether the person qualifies (MCA 47-1-111). A separate Conflict Defender office in Billings, 406-247-4857, takes over when the regular office can't.

Two free state websites let you look up a case with a name or case number:

• Justice and city cases: the limited jurisdiction search
• Felony cases: the District Court search

Neither site shows sealed files or cases where the party is a minor. If a case doesn't come up, the court itself can help. Call the Justice Court at 406-487-5432 for misdemeanor and city dates. Call the Clerk of District Court at 406-487-2651 for felony dates. The clerk will want the full legal name and birthday.

The Sheriff's Office serves arrest warrants across the county, including in Scobey and Flaxville. Ask about one by calling 406-487-2691. People picked up on warrants make their first appearance at the Justice Court, 406-487-5432. Pending cases may appear in the state's two court search sites, for justice and city courts and for District Court. Anyone wanted by the state for fleeing probation or parole, or for escape, carries that status on the Montana offender search. For a warrant out of Glasgow, see Valley County's Justice Court warrants. To clear a warrant, speak with a lawyer first. Then ask the court that signed it to reschedule, or arrange to turn yourself in.

Some of the county lies within the Fort Peck Reservation of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, about 33,290 acres in all. The state's Indian law office says the Fort Peck Tribal Court has authority over every offense committed by an Indian inside the reservation. So a case can go to tribal court when the person charged is Indian and the act took place on reservation land.

• Fort Peck Tribal Court, 807 Court Avenue, Poplar, MT 59255, 406-768-2400. It has criminal, civil, family and youth divisions.
• Fort Peck Tribes headquarters, 501 Medicine Bear Road, Poplar, MT 59255, 406-768-2300.

Tribal court sets its own hearing dates and release rules. If you are unsure which court has the case, ask both the tribal court and the Sheriff's Office.

Federal cases from here are assigned to the Great Falls Division. Court is held at the Missouri River Federal Courthouse, 125 Central Avenue West, Suite 110, Great Falls, MT 59404, 406-727-1922. The clerk's window is open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• A detention hearing takes place at the first federal court date, where the judge decides on release before trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• The U.S. Marshals Service moves and guards federal prisoners. The Marshals keep an office in that building, Suite 220, and the Montana headquarters answers at 406-200-6004.
• Pretrial reports come from the U.S. Probation office at 312 Railroad Alley N., Glasgow, MT 59230, 406-228-4682.
• Court filings are on PACER. Sentenced federal prisoners show up in the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

A detainer does not end the state case, but it changes what happens when the person would go free. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sends the jail Form I-247A, asking it to hold the person for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).

1. Montana officers holding a detainer have a legal duty to arrest the person on it and to tell them about it (MCA 27-16-801).
2. Believable evidence of citizenship or lawful status removes that duty.
3. A 2025 law also gives officers more room. During a lawful stop, they may try to learn if the person is here legally (MCA 46-5-401).
4. ICE's check-in office for this region is at 2900 4th Avenue, Suite 205, Billings, MT 59101, 406-247-4083. Above it sits ICE's Salt Lake City Field Office, 801-736-1200.
5. Track the person through the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

Once a judge commits someone to the Montana Department of Corrections, they wait in a county jail while state staff evaluate them. Next comes a placement: a treatment program, a prerelease center or a prison.

• Montana State Prison, 400 Conley Lake Road, Deer Lodge, MT 59722, 406-415-6126
• Montana Women's Prison, 701 South 27th Street, Billings, MT 59101, 406-247-5100
• For parole, call the Board of Pardons and Parole in Deer Lodge at 406-846-1404.
• Find anyone in state custody on the Montana offender search, and read about each site in our state prisons guide.

Teen cases are heard by the district judge acting as Youth Court judge, for anyone charged with something done before age 18 (MCA 41-5-203). The Clerk of District Court holds the youth files, and they stay off the public court websites.

• Locked-up youths are owed a probable cause hearing inside 24 hours, not counting Saturdays, Sundays or holidays (MCA 41-5-332).
• The judge may set bail for a youth, keeping in mind what the parents can pay (MCA 41-5-323).
• Some grave charges, such as homicide, let the prosecutor seek leave to try a child of 12 or more in District Court as an adult (MCA 41-5-206). State prisons can't house anyone younger than 16.
• Youths committed long term go to Pine Hills Correctional Facility, 4 North Haynes Avenue, Miles City, MT 59301, 406-232-1377.

Parents can call the juvenile probation officer at 406-653-6263 to find the youth and the court date.

The County Attorney's office stands up for victims and helps them get restitution. Call 406-487-2641. When the charge is a felony or involves injury, or the threat of it, the prosecutor must get the victim's views first. That covers dropping the case, plea deals, release and diversion (MCA 46-24-104).

• Northeast Montana Victim/Witness Program: 406-653-1494, or toll free at 866-653-2999.
• Women's Resource Center, 114 5th Street South, Glasgow, MT 59230, 406-228-8401. Its staff serve this county and travel to Scobey.
• VINE sends custody alerts on state felony offenders. Sign up at VINELink or call 800-456-3076.
• Montana's victim compensation program covers crime costs up to $25,000. Report the crime to police within 72 hours. File the claim within one year. Call 800-498-6455.