Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026.
Powell County, Montana, has about 7,100 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Montana the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of District Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the Montana Department of Justice is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Powell County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Powell County public records, Powell County arrest records, Powell County warrants, Powell County inmate search, Powell County court records, Montana arrest records and Montana inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Powell County District Court
In Montana the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Powell County are heard by the Powell County District Court, which hears felonies, civil cases, divorces, probate and juvenile matters; the Justice Court takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and small claims, and the file of each case is kept by the Clerk of District Court.
For Powell County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at powellcountymt.gov/district-court (page title: District Court | Powell County, MT), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
Montana has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The Montana Criminal History and Your Own Copy
Montana is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the CHOPRS service lets anyone search public criminal history online by name, through the Montana Department of Justice. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Powell County
The Powell County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Deer Lodge keep the arrest records in Powell County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
Together, the two agencies in Powell County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 59 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Powell County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Powell County in 2025
The two agencies in Powell County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 23 violent and 41 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 64 crimes in 2025 against 65 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Powell County public records guide.
The County Attorney for Powell County
The County Attorney decides which arrests in Powell County become charges and files them in the Powell County District Court or the Justice Court; the office answers questions about pending prosecutions, and the case files themselves are court records.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at powellcountymt.gov/county-attorney (page title: County Attorney | Powell County, MT), phone (406) 846-9790, 409 Missouri Ave., Suite 203 Deer Lodge, MT 59722, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
The Sex Offender Registry for Powell County
Registered sex offenders living in Powell County are listed on the Montana Sexual or Violent Offender Registry, run by the Montana Department of Justice at dojmt.gov/sexual-or-violent-offender-registry. Sexual and violent offenders are both listed.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Powell County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Montana Public Records Act a county office must answer a request in a timely manner; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the actual cost of fulfilling the request.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Powell County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Montana Department of Justice: the CHOPRS service lets anyone search public criminal history online by name. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Montana Public Records Act.
How do I get my own Montana criminal history?
Through the same name-based search, run on yourself.
Who prosecutes crimes in Powell County?
The County Attorney, reached at (406) 846-9790, which files its cases in the Powell County District Court or the Justice Court.
Is this the official Powell 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.