Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 24, 2026.
Gallatin County, Montana, has about 127,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Gallatin County comes from a judge of the Gallatin County District Court or the Justice Court, is served by whichever agency finds the person, and is recorded in the court file of the case it was issued in. This guide says who issues and serves warrants here, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one and how one is cleared.
This guide covers who issues warrants, who serves warrants, after a warrant arrest, checking for a warrant, clearing a warrant and common questions.
Related guides: Gallatin County public records, Gallatin County arrest records, Gallatin County criminal records, Gallatin County court records, Gallatin County police reports, Montana arrest records and Montana inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Gallatin County
In Montana an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Gallatin County that means the Gallatin County District Court, which hears felonies, civil cases, divorces, probate and juvenile matters; the Justice Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and small claims, issues its own warrants on the cases before it. A city with a city and municipal court of its own issues warrants on the tickets and ordinance cases it tries.
When a defendant misses a court date the judge issues a bench warrant, and either kind of warrant lives in the court file of the case, kept by the Clerk of District Court.
For Gallatin County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at gallatinmt.gov/272/Clerk-of-District-Court (page title: Clerk of District Court | Gallatin County, MT), phone 406-582-2165, 515 S. 16th Ave., Room 1041 Bozeman, MT 59178, Monday through Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Montana has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
Who Serves Warrants in Gallatin County
The Gallatin County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Bozeman, Belgrade, Manhattan and West Yellowstone serve warrants in Gallatin County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Gallatin County: Montana State University (campus police); it serves warrants on its own ground.
A warrant issued in Gallatin County is good anywhere in Montana, so it is served by whichever agency finds the person, in a traffic stop as often as at the door.
Together, the five agencies in Gallatin County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,546 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Gallatin County arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Gallatin County Is Held
A person arrested on a warrant and kept in custody goes to the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest. The jail, run by the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, held about 140 people on an average day in 2019 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count.
A person arrested in Gallatin County on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Gallatin County
The place to check for a warrant from Gallatin County is the court file of the case, through the Clerk of District Court at 406-582-2165, since a warrant is recorded in the case it was issued in.
The one Gallatin County page SearchSystems verified, the court's, is not a list of open warrants.
Clearing a Warrant from Gallatin County
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from Gallatin County that means appearing before the Gallatin County District Court or the Justice Court, with the case put back on the calendar through the Clerk of District Court.
A missed date in a case before the Justice Court is handled by that court, not by the Gallatin County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Gallatin County?
Not from the Gallatin County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. The court file is the record of a warrant: ask the Clerk of District Court at 406-582-2165.
Who serves warrants in Gallatin County?
The Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, and the agency that reports for the city where the person is found; an Montana warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Gallatin County held?
At the county jail, run by the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Gallatin County cleared?
By appearing before the court that issued it; the judge recalls the warrant in court. The case is put back on the calendar through the Clerk of District Court at 406-582-2165.
Is this the official Gallatin County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.