The court consisted of one chief justice and two associate justices, all of whom were appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate; the court's first members were chosen by President Abraham Lincoln in 1864.

[3] The Territorial Supreme Court held its last session on October 5, 1889; Montana became a state on November 8.

[3] This prohibited partisan filings by judicial candidates and required that they instead be nominated by citizen petition.

The resulting voter turnout in 1910 was minuscule (fewer than half those who voted on the partisan ballot for the Clerk of the Supreme Court voted for the Chief Justice on the non-partisan ballot) and so many considered the experiment to be a failure.

The law was furthermore declared unconstitutional by the Montana Supreme Court in 1911 because it failed to provide any means for nominating candidates to newly created judgeships.

[4] Non-partisan elections were reinstated in 1935, when the legislature prohibited political parties from endorsing, contributing to, or making expenditures in support of or opposition to judicial candidates.

[3] The 1972 Montana Constitution, in Article VII, extended the judicial term of office from six to eight years, and allowed for the legislature to increase the number of associate justices by two members.

If the seat on the court is contested, the top two vote-getters in the primary election are selected as the final candidates.

If the Senate fails to confirm the appointee, the seat on the court will remain vacant and the selection and nomination process restarts.

In Cross v. VanDyke, the Montana Supreme Court held that admitted to the bar meant even though VanDyke was not an active member of the bar for five years, he was still eligible to run as a candidate for justice since his active and inactive time combined for at least five years.

The Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court is chosen by popular election for six year terms.

The Montana Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over the so-called extraordinary writs, which include habeas corpus, injunction, review, mandate, quo warranto, and supervisory control.

[14] To fulfill its duties, the Montana Supreme Court manages twenty specialized boards and commissions, to which it appoints members to terms of either indefinite or specified length depending on the specific body.

The state does not have the right to appeal from acquittals or convictions, but may appeal from court orders or judgments that dismiss charges, modify verdicts, grant new trials, quash arrests or search warrants, suppress evidence, suppress confessions or admissions, grant or deny a change of venue, or impose a sentence that is contrary to law.

[20] On review of criminal matters, the Montana Supreme Court may reverse, affirm, or modify the lower court's judgment; set aside, affirm, or modify any proceedings subsequent to the judgment from which the appeal is taken; reduce the offence of which the defendant was convicted to a lesser included offense; reduce the punishment imposed by the lower court; or order a new trial.

Its Thursday conferences consider proposed opinions, petitions for rehearing, and appeal classifications.

Briefs from amicus curiae are accepted only if all parties consent in writing, or the court grants leave on motion stating the interest of the applicant and the reasons why it should participate.

A motion of an amicus curiae for leave to participate in oral argument is granted only for "extraordinary reasons.

[25] Opinions of the Montana Supreme Court are assigned a "public domain" or "neutral-format" case citation, which consists of the year of decision, the state’s postal abbreviation, and finally a sequential number; the court’s sixth decision handed down during 2006, for example, would have the citation 2006 MT 6.