HAMILTON – Veteran District County Judge Jeff Langton has announced that he will retire after spending 26 years on the bench.
Langton was first elected judge in Ravalli County District Court in November of 1992. He was then re-elected in 1998, 2004, 2010 and 2016 and is currently the longest-serving state district judge in Montana.
In addition to presiding over thousands of trials, he’s also served as Co-Chair of the Montana Supreme Court Commission on Self-Represented Litigants, chaired the Sentence Review Commission and serves on the commission which oversees jury instructions.
He grew up on the family ranch in Victor, graduating from the UM Law School in 1978, practicing law in Hamilton his entire career.
Langton announced his retirement with a letter to Chief Justice Mike McGrath of the Montana Supreme Court, saying he plans to step down at the end of April.
Because there will be an unexpired term, it’s expected the state will appoint a new judge, who would then stand for election in 2020.
