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Bozeman Municipal Court sees rising jury trials and interpreter needs; judges ask for staffing and tech support
Summary
Chief Judge Carolina Tierney told the City Commission that jury trials and interpreter minutes have surged, treatment courts are expanding and the court will request a new clerk position in the biennium budget to handle rising case and citation processing demands.
Chief Judge Carolina Tierney updated the Bozeman City Commission on April 14 about increases in municipal court workload and steps the court is taking to modernize operations.
Tierney said jury trials rose from six in FY24 to 17 in FY25, and as of April 10 the court had set 14 jury trials in FY26 with 11 additional settings scheduled — a substantial increase in calendar workload. "That is a 45% increase in cases between 2025 and 2026," she said during the State of the Courts presentation.
She outlined recent operational improvements: an expanded court-administrator role, a fully staffed clerk team, digitization and records retention ordinance updates, adoption of AI software at the water reclamation facility (presented earlier by utilities staff), and the development of a commercial, institutional audit program in partnership with MSU.
Tierney highlighted two treatment courts: a veterans treatment court (est. 2018) with 12 current participants and 8 pending referrals, and the Bridgers treatment court launched in June 2024 addressing high-risk DUI cases; Bridgers currently has 17 participants and 9 graduates. She said grant funding supports Bridgers through FY28 and city funding will be needed thereafter.
Tierney asked commissioners to consider a budget request for one additional clerk position to help process rising citations and casework and to fund technology that integrates state-required systems while maintaining confidential criminal justice information.
Commissioners asked follow-up questions about Bridgers funding, whether a specific dollar amount was known (Tierney said not yet), and how the court and commission can coordinate on budget planning to maintain treatment courts that reduce recidivism.
The commission acknowledged the court's requests and the city manager said the recommended budget will include a request for the clerk and related technology improvements for commission consideration.
