SearchSystems Editorial

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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 24, 2026.

About this guide

Silver Bow County, Montana, has about 36,000 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 Silver Bow 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: Silver Bow County public records, Silver Bow County arrest records, Silver Bow County warrants, Silver Bow County court records, Silver Bow County police reports, Montana arrest records and Montana inmate search.

Criminal Cases in the Silver Bow County District Court

In Montana the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Silver Bow County are heard by the Silver Bow 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.

The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.mt.gov/Courts/portals (page title: Montana Public Access Portal(s)), 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.

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 Silver Bow County

The Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff's Office keeps the arrest records in Silver Bow 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.

The Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff's Office reported 1,158 arrests to the FBI for 2025; 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 Silver Bow County arrest records.

The Crimes Behind the Records: Silver Bow County in 2025

The one agency in Silver Bow County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 168 violent and 753 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 921 crimes in 2025 against 1,044 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 Silver Bow County public records guide.

The County Attorney for Silver Bow County

Charges in Silver Bow County are filed by the County Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Silver Bow County District Court or the Justice Court.

The office's page SearchSystems verified is at co.silverbow.mt.us/167/County-Attorney (page title: County Attorney | City and County of Butte-Silver Bow, MT), phone 800-666-6899, 155 W Granite St Butte, MT 59701, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.

The Sex Offender Registry for Silver Bow County

Registered sex offenders living in Silver Bow 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 Silver Bow 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. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at co.silverbow.mt.us/DocumentCenter/View/23396/City-Court-Request-for... (page title: BUTTE CITY COURT REQUEST FOR PUBLIC RECORDS).

Frequently Asked Questions

Are criminal records public in Silver Bow 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.

Can I search Silver Bow County criminal cases online?

The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.mt.gov/Courts/portals (page title: Montana Public Access Portal(s)).

How do I get my own Montana criminal history?

Through the same name-based search, run on yourself.

Who prosecutes crimes in Silver Bow County?

The County Attorney, reached at 800-666-6899, which files its cases in the Silver Bow County District Court or the Justice Court.

Is this the official Silver Bow 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.