COUNTY COURTHOUSE RECORDS IN MONTANA

This site provides the following information on Montana county courthouse records:

CALL FOR CURRENT FEES IN EACH COUNTY

A summary of suggestions from the county clerks which will facilitate their search and provision of county documents.

• If you will review these suggestions carefully, your time and effort will be rewarded with better results.

• A bit of history - when and from what area(s) the county was formed.
• Name and zip code of the county seat.
• Where to write for records.
• Years for which records are available.
• Fees for records and copies. CALL FOR CURRENT FEES
  Such records as birth & death certificates, deeds, marriage licenses,
  naturalization records, leases, military discharges and probate records
  are located in Montana's county courthouses. To provide accurate
  information for this page, questionnaires were sent to each of Montana's 56
  County Clerk & Recorder offices and to each of our 56 Clerk of the
   District
  Court offices on March 29, 1996. The questionnaire asked for current addresses and phone numbers, earliest years for specific records, and costs for document copies and searches. Clerks were also asked to provide information which they felt would help their office as well as the genealogist facilitate the process of obtaining documents.
• IMPORTANT GUIDELINES TO FOLLOW WHEN WRITING FOR
  COUNTY RECORDS AND DOCUMENTS

Provide complete information on an individual and event for which you need
 documents. Include all names that may have been used, including nicknames,
alternate spellings, etc. List dates and type of event as completely and
accurately as possible. If you don't know the exact date, specify the span of
 years you wish searched and be prepared to pay for searches that span several
years.

 Patience pays! Unless you already know the # of pages in a deed, or the
exact cost of a document, don't send a specific amount of money in cash
 or a check. It is appropriate to send a signed, BLANK check, however,
with a notation written, (preferably in red ink), UNDER the "$__________" line
 of the check which states, "Not to exceed $5.00", or any amount you wish to
specify. If you don't care to do that, you will need to make your first letter a
 statement of what records you need and a request for them to send you a
statement of charges. You can then send a check for the exact amount in a
second letter.

Always provide an S.A.S.E., (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope). Virtually all
 county clerks in our state have this requirement.

A number of county clerks asked that we relay to genealogists that their offices
have limited personnel and are often swamped with paper work. Genealogical
queries are done as a service which is outside of their realm of responsibility.
They ask therefore that you exercise patience and courtesy in your transactions
with their offices.
 Several counties sent a sample of forms used to request birth or death records.
 It might be a good idea to follow the format in all requests for these records to
insure that there will be no delay. The following information can easily be printed
out on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper and submitted to a county office:

Request for Birth Certificate:
Date of Request
Name of Person
Date of Birth
Mother's Maiden Name
Father's Name  of Requester
Relationship to Party, or Reason for Request
Signature of Requester

Certificate
Date of Request
 Name of Deceased
Date of Death
Relationship or Reason for Request
Signature of Requester

30-Year Law: In 1995, a "30-Year Law" was enacted in Montana concerning
birth and death records. Although several county Clerk & Recorder's Offices
 are not following this rule, the interpretation I've received from many of them
and from the Department of Public Health and Human Services/Vital Records
 Office for the state of Montana is as follows: Copies of death and birth records
that are less than thirty years old can be obtained only by the Mother, Father,
Spouse or Child of the individual for whom the record is requested. Records more
than thirty years old are open and may be released to a non-direct relative. The disagreement among offices seems to be in the area of those records over 30 years
old. Some offices will release records for genealogical purposes to anyone, if the
record is 30 years old. A few offices still require that the person receiving the older record is somehow related. 

Big Horn:

County Seat: Hardin. Much of the present-day Crow Indian Reservation is
 in Big Horn County along with part of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.
The county was organized from parts of Rosebud and Yellowstone Counties in
1913. Clerk & Recorder, Big Horn County, P. O. Drawer H, Hardin, MT 59034 Telephone: 406-665-1506; Fax: 406-665-1608

Records available: Birth & Death from "1900's - varies"; Deeds, Mortgage,
Leases: about 1925 - some earlier; Military service discharges: about 1925;
 Burial records: from about 1925.

CALL FOR CURRENT FEES: Certified Birth $5.00; Certified Death $3.00 ; Other copies $.25 per page

Clerk of the District Court, Big Horn County, 121 3rd Street West, Hardin, MT 59034-1905 Telephone: 406-665-1504

 Records available: Marriage, Divorce, Probate, Criminal & Civil Court Records from 1913; Naturalizations from 1927.

 2001 Fees: Certified marriage records: $2.50; Uncertified marriage records: $.50; Other copies $.50 for first 5 pages, $.25 per page thereafter.

Specific Comments from County Clerks: Need parental information for birth or death records.