How to Find Someone in Montana

Montana's Department of Justice runs a Criminal History Online Public Record Search that is open to the public, and its Department of Corrections publishes a search for the state's convicted felons. The courts offer two public access portals, one for district courts and one for courts of limited jurisdiction, and the state's cadastral map carries ownership for every parcel. The Office of Vital Records keeps a marriage and divorce index it will search but not copy, and it is pausing birth certificates for five days in late October 2026 to change platforms.

The order to use: the offender search and the registry for status, the two court portals for cases, the license lookup and the business search for livelihood, CHOPRS for the criminal record itself, Montana Cadastral for property, then the clerk of district court and the county clerk and recorder for the files, listed on the Montana county pages at SearchSystems.

Written by SearchSystems.net from Montana's own systems: the Montana Judicial Branch, the Montana Department of Corrections, the Montana Department of Justice, the Montana Secretary of State, the Department of Public Health and Human Services Office of Vital Records, the Montana Department of Revenue, the Montana Code Annotated, each read on October 13, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

Two court portals and a court locator

The Montana Judicial Branch home page points to public records through two systems, the Montana District Court Public Access Portal and the Montana Courts of Limited Jurisdiction Public Access Portal, so a name has to be run in both. The same page offers a court locator for contact information, staff and hours of any court by judicial district or county, Supreme Court opinions, briefs and docket, e-filing and online payment of tickets and fines, and when read it carried a notice about a Thomson Reuters security incident with statements from the Supreme Court and the company.

The portals' own search terms are on the portals; the Montana county pages at SearchSystems list each clerk of district court.

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The offender search for convicted felons

The Montana Department of Corrections' Correctional Offender Network Search states its scope in one line: it searches for the records of convicted felons in the state of Montana. The form takes a Department of Corrections ID number or a last and first name, and the page links a correctional status glossary, victim information, the Board of Pardons and Parole and the registry. The department is at 5 S. Last Chance Gulch, Helena, 406-444-3930, corpio@mt.gov. A misdemeanor record is outside its scope by definition.

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The registry and CHOPRS

The Department of Justice's Sexual or Violent Offender Registry covers violent offenders as well as sexual offenders, with separate information lines, (406) 444-7068 for sexual offender information and (406) 444-9877 for violent offender information; errors are reported through its contact page, criminal activity to local law enforcement, and registrants with questions write in with their full name, address and date of birth. The search fields are on the site.

The same department runs the Criminal History Online Public Record Search, CHOPRS, whose page offers a Start a Search button and nothing more to an automated reader; its name says what it is, a public record search of Montana criminal history, and its fee and terms are on the search. The department's criminal records and public records pages at dojmt.gov returned not found when read.

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EBiz licenses, the business search and My Voter Page

Montana's professional and occupational licenses are verified through the Department of Labor and Industry's EBiz licensing portal, which lists a license verification request among its services along with new applications and 21 day interstate registrations for healthcare and other professions; the department's own lookup page carried military spouse licensing information when read, so the search fields are on the portal. The Secretary of State's business search answered an automated read with a security check; the office's Business and UCC Services page explains that a business record is found by searching and clicking the business name, and it warns that letters demanding money to file an annual report or buy a certificate are not from the office and should be thrown away.

The Secretary of State's My Voter Page looks up voting information from a first name, last name and date of birth, returning registration status, polling place, absentee ballot status and a sample ballot.

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Vital records, and a five day pause in October 2026

The Department of Public Health and Human Services' Office of Vital Records issues birth certificates for people born in Montana and death certificates for people who died in Montana, handles corrections, adoptions, surrogacy, delayed and home births, sealed files and the Putative Father Registry, and does not issue marriage or divorce records at all: it holds an index of them that can be searched. The office is closed to walk in service, takes appointments for name changes, adoptions and corrections at 406-444-2685 or HHSVitalRecords@mt.gov, mails to PO Box 4210, Helena MT 59604, and names VitalChek and VitalRecordsOnline as its only contracted third party vendors, warning that other companies charge high fees to help apply.

When read, the page announced that the office is moving to a new records platform and that no birth certificate will be issued at any state or county office from October 21 through October 25, 2026, with statewide issuance resuming Monday, October 26.

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Montana Cadastral

Montana Cadastral is the state's parcel map application; it answered without text, so its search fields and the ownership details it shows are on the map itself, and the Montana county pages at SearchSystems list the county offices that record the deeds.

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The unclaimed property portal, the ACP and the Montana Code

The Department of Revenue's Montana Unclaimed Property Portal reports over $111,010,528.00 returned to Montana's citizens, explains the research, dormancy and reporting cycle by which bank accounts, payroll checks, gift cards, stocks, refunds and safe deposit box contents reach the state, runs a live online auction of abandoned property under MCA 70-9-812, and searches and claims through the TransAction Portal. Under HB 88, passed in the 2025 session, the department now auto matches unclaimed property to owners using tax records and mails checks of up to $1,000.00 without a claim, through the Montana Auto Pay Program.

The Department of Justice's Address Confidentiality Program page carried its title and an October 2, 2026 update stamp and no text, so the program is named here without description.

Montana's public records law is Title 2, Chapter 6, Part 10 of the Montana Code Annotated, whose sections cover access to public information with safety and security exceptions, request fees, certified copies, written notice of denial with a civil action and costs to the prevailing party, management and preservation of records, a prohibition on using distribution lists, and a ban on concealing public hazards.

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Montana: CHOPRS, the felon search and the cadastral

Montana answers the criminal question twice, through the felon search and through CHOPRS, and the registry covers violent as well as sexual offenders. The two court portals carry the cases, the cadastral map carries the parcel, and the vital records office confirms a birth or death and will search its marriage and divorce index. The deeds and the court files are listed county by county on the Montana county pages at SearchSystems.

Paid people search reports on Montanans are built from these sources; the Department of Justice sells the criminal record search itself, and the felon search, the portals and the cadastral map are free.

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County Starting Points

Flathead CountyMadison CountyYellowstone CountyAll Montana counties

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Questions about finding someone in Montana

Does the Montana offender search include misdemeanors?
No. The Department of Corrections says the Offender Search searches for the records of convicted felons in the state of Montana.
Can the public search Montana criminal history online?
Yes. The Department of Justice runs the Criminal History Online Public Record Search, CHOPRS; its fee and terms are on the search itself.
Are there two Montana court searches?
Yes. The Judicial Branch offers a District Court Public Access Portal and a Courts of Limited Jurisdiction Public Access Portal, with a court locator by district or county.
Does Montana's vital records office issue marriage certificates?
No. It holds a searchable index of marriages and divorces but does not issue the records; births and deaths are its certificates.
When will Montana birth certificates be unavailable in 2026?
From October 21 through October 25, 2026, at every state and county office, while the Office of Vital Records moves to a new platform; issuance resumes October 26.
What is the Montana Auto Pay Program?
Under HB 88 from the 2025 session, the Department of Revenue matches unclaimed property to owners through tax records and mails checks of up to $1,000.00 without a claim being filed.

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Every Montana Guide

The full set: arrest records, background checks, inmate search, offender registry, birth certificates, unclaimed property, business search, and the Montana records law that opens every door on this list.