List of first women lawyers and judges in Montana

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Montana. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in Montana's history

Law School

First female law graduate: Edna Rankin McKinnon (1919)

Lawyers

First female: Ella Knowles Haskell (1888)
First Native American (Crow Nation) female: Mary Frances Garrigus (c. 1918)

Law Clerk

First female to clerk for a Supreme Court of Montana justice: Betty Ann Sias (1945)

Federal judges

First female (federal magistrate): Carolyn Ostby (1981) in 2002
First female (U.S. District Court of Montana): Susan P. Watters (1988) in 2014

State judges

First female (Chief Justice; Montana Supreme Court): Karla M. Gray (1976) in 2000
First female (Montana Supreme Court): Diane Barz (1968) in 1989
First Native American (Navajo) female elected (justice court): Joey Jayne
First female (youngest): Shannen Rossmiller in 2000

Montana Judicial Court

Karen Townsend: First female elected as a Judge of the Fourth Judicial District (2011) Missoula and Mineral Counties, Montana
First female (Twelfth Judicial District): Kaydee Snipes Ruiz (2011) in 2019
First female (Thirteenth Judicial District): Diane Barz (1968) in 1978
First female (Twentieth Judicial District): Deborah Ã¢ÂÂKimÃ¢ÂÂ Christopher in 2000

Assistant Attorney General

First female: Ella Knowles Haskell (1888) in 1893

United States Attorney

First female: Doris Swords Poppler (1948) in 1990

County Attorney

First female: Emily E. Sloan (1919) in 1924

State Bar of Montana

First female admitted: Edna Rankin McKinnon (1919)
First female president: Sherry Scheel Matteucci

Firsts in local history

Kitty Curtis: First female judge in Flathead County, Montana (1994)
Holly Brown: First female district court judge in Gallatin County, Montana
Colleen Herrington: First female chief judge (2023) in Gallatin County, Montana
Deborah Kim Christopher: First female to serve as the Lake County Attorney, Montana (1991). In 2000, she became the first female judge of the Twentieth Judicial District.
Jennifer Boatwright-Lint: First female to serve as a district court judge in Ravalli County, Montana (2018)

References