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Montana County
Custer County, Montana
Miles City - the Cow Capital of Montana and the Bucking Horse Sale - from Miles City's ranching heritage (Miles City is the undisputed cattle capital of Montana - the Yellowstone River crossing point where Texas longhorn trail drives ended in the 1870s-1880s made Miles City the most significant cattle shipping point in the northern range country - the Range Riders Museum documents this extraordinary ranching heritage) to the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale (the annual May event where Montana's working ranches gather to sell and test their bucking horses - the most authentic rodeo livestock sale in America, where genuine working cowboys and rodeo stock contractors compete for the finest bucking horses on the northern Plains in a three-day celebration that defines Montana cowboy culture).
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Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Custer County Disaster & Emergency Services – Coordinator Cory Cheguis, (406) 853-4623 | Deputy Coordinator Maureen Celander, office (406) 874-3510 | Fax: (406) 874-3491; officials use the Nixle alert system (text your zip code to 888777 to subscribe).
Sheriff: Custer County Sheriff’s Office – 1010 Main Street, Miles City, MT 59301 | (406) 874-3320 | Fax: (406) 874-3506/3450; Sheriff Brandon Kelm. Staffed by the Sheriff, Undersheriff, five deputies (one an Eastern Montana Drug Task Force agent), one administrative assistant, and nine full-time detention officers.
Miles City Police / Dispatch: Operates the Custer/Garfield 911 Dispatch Center and Animal Control Services; non-emergency dispatch (406) 232-3411, police (406) 234-6273.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-94 serves Miles City, the county seat, at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Tongue Rivers in southeastern Montana.
Notes: Custer County, established June 2, 1865 as one of Montana Territory’s nine original counties (formed under President Lincoln), is named for George Armstrong Custer. Roughly 12,000 residents.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Custer County – confirm current phone via custercountymt.gov.
Notes: Miles City is genuinely known as the “Cowboy Capital of Montana,” home to the World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale – a major rodeo-stock auction held the third weekend of May since 1951, drawing 10,000-20,000 visitors over four days for bronc sales, wild horse races, a parade, and street dances; some call it the birthplace of modern rodeo. The Range Riders Museum, established 1939, spans 13 historic buildings covering the cattle industry, Plains Indian history, and Fort Keogh’s military heritage. The Waterworks Art Museum, housed in the city’s 1910 water plant, holds significant frontier photography by Edward S. Curtis, Evelyn Cameron, and L.A. Huffman. The city grew from Fort Keogh, established by General Nelson A. Miles after the 1876 defeat of Custer’s forces at Little Bighorn.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Custer County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via custercountymt.gov.
Federal: VA Montana Health Care System (Fort Harrison/Helena, accessible west).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Miles City Public Library – 1 South 10th Street, Miles City, MT 59301 | (406) 234-1496; established 1902, roughly 30,000-volume collection circulating over 45,000 items annually; a member of the Montana State Library system serving patrons statewide.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Bucking Horse Sale, Range Riders Museum, Waterworks Art Museum, and the Yellowstone/Tongue River confluence are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine, authentically Western Bucking Horse Sale is one of the most distinctive cultural events covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Custer County Assessor – confirm current contact via custercountymt.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Miles City Police Department Animal Control Services – handles animal control for Miles City and works with the Custer County Sheriff’s Office for rural county calls, (406) 232-3411 (dispatch).
NOTES: Custer County is the third county in the Montana v2 A+ sourced redo’s second batch. The genuine, authentically Western Bucking Horse Sale is one of the most distinctive cultural events covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Custer County
Custer County is the Cow Capital of Montana – Miles City’s position as the northern range country’s premier cattle shipping point since the 1870s trail drive era and the annual Bucking Horse Sale define the most authentically cowboy community in Montana.
Miles City (the county seat, population ~8,000) is the Yellowstone River hub for southeast Montana’s vast ranching and energy communities.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Custer County Assessor at 1010 Main Street, Miles City, MT 59301, phone 406-234-4274. MT residential assessed at market value, taxed at 1.35%.
Courts & Legal
Custer County District Court at 1010 Main Street, Miles City, MT 59301, phone 406-234-4275, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK AND RECORDER
1010 Main St., Miles City, MT 59301
(406) 874-3310
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
1010 Main St., Miles City, MT 59301
(406) 874-3310
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Custer County Clerk of District Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Custer County was Montana’s original large territorial county, from which Yellowstone and many other eastern Montana counties were later carved.
Local societies
No dedicated Custer County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Custer County Clerk of District Court, Probate Division 1010 Main Street, Miles City, MT 59301 (406) 874-3326 Custer County is in southeastern Montana, seated in Miles City.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Montana adopted the Uniform Probate Code (UPC), codified at Title 72 of the Montana Code Annotated (MCA). Probate is handled by the District Court in the county where the decedent resided.
Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit (MCA § 72-3-1101) – available when the value of the probate estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000. At least 30 days must have passed since the death, and no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative may be pending or granted anywhere. The affiant presents the sworn, notarized affidavit (with a certified death certificate) directly to whoever holds the property to collect it – skipping probate court entirely. Must be used within 3 years of death.
Summary Administration – a streamlined court process for estates valued at $100,000 or less; unlike the affidavit procedure, this still goes through the court, just with reduced formality.
Informal Probate – the most common path for uncontested estates. An application can be made to the clerk of district court no sooner than 120 hours (5 days) after death, with minimal court involvement.
Formal Probate – required when there’s no will, when a will’s validity is contested, or when there’s disagreement over the personal representative or distribution. Handled by a district court judge.
Supervised Administration – formal probate with ongoing court oversight of the personal representative.
Step 2: filing for formal or informal probate
File an application (informal) or petition (formal) with the Clerk of District Court in the county where the decedent resided, no sooner than 120 hours after death.
The court or clerk appoints the personal representative and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors and gives direct notice to known creditors. Creditors generally have 4 months from the date of first publication to file claims.
The personal representative inventories and appraises the estate’s assets.
After debts, taxes, and expenses are paid and the creditor claim period expires, the personal representative distributes the remaining assets and closes the estate.
What it costs
Montana does not set statutory percentage-based fees; personal representative and attorney fees are generally “reasonable compensation” based on time and complexity.
Montana has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
1010 Main St., Miles City, MT 59301
(406) 874-3360
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
1010 Main St., Miles City, MT 59301
(406) 874-3310
ELECTIONS
1010 Main St., Miles City, MT 59301
(406) 874-3310
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MT DPHHS — Custer
(406) 874-3320
Holy Rosary Healthcare
holyrosarycmt.org (Miles City — quality regional hospital; major eastern Montana anchor)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Custer County Health Department – confirm current contact via custercountymt.gov.
Domestic violence/sexual assault: Custer Network Against Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault – (406) 951-0475 or (406) 234-0542.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Miles City
Population: 11,800
Area: 3,783 sq mi
Established: 1877
Tier: 3
Public Records
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