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Montana County
Deer Lodge County, Montana
Anaconda - the Copper King's smelter city and America's tallest masonry structure - from the Anaconda Smelter Stack (the 585-foot brick smokestack of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company smelter - the tallest freestanding masonry structure in the world - rises above the Deer Lodge Valley as the most extraordinary industrial monument in Montana, a testament to the copper smelting empire that Marcus Daly built and whose toxic legacy created one of the largest Superfund sites in American history) and Anaconda's remarkable post-industrial identity (the city that lost its copper smelter in 1980 after a century of operation has reinvented itself as a tourism destination whose Superfund history, Copper Village Museum, and Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course on the old smelter site define a uniquely American industrial heritage community).
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Office: Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Disaster & Emergency Services – coordinates with local, state, and national agencies on emergency planning; confirm current phone via adlc.us.
Law Enforcement: Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Law Enforcement Department – 800 South Oak Street/800 South Main Street, Anaconda, MT 59711 | Non-emergency (406) 563-5241 | Fax: (406) 563-2069/5243; Chief Bill Sather, Communications Supervisor Jamie Hanson. A single consolidated department provides policing, detention, and 911 Dispatch (law enforcement, fire, and EMS) for the entire county, since Anaconda and Deer Lodge County merged into a consolidated city-county government in 1977 – one of only two such governments in Montana (the other is Butte-Silver Bow).
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. IMPORTANT naming note: the CITY of Deer Lodge is actually located in neighboring Powell County, not Deer Lodge County – a common source of confusion. Deer Lodge County’s seat and only incorporated city is Anaconda.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: MT-1 (Pintler Veterans Memorial Scenic Highway) and I-90 (via connecting roads) serve Anaconda, the county seat, in southwest Montana.
Notes: Deer Lodge County, established 1865, is Montana’s second-smallest county by area (737 square miles), with roughly 9,400-9,700 residents. It has been the most consistently Democratic county in Montana in presidential elections, not backing a Republican since Calvin Coolidge in 1924.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Anaconda-Deer Lodge County – 800 Main Street, Anaconda, MT 59711 | confirm current phone via adlc.us.
Notes: Anaconda is genuinely home to the Anaconda Smelter Stack – completed 1918, standing 585 feet tall, the tallest surviving all-brick masonry structure in the world; built by Marcus Daly’s Anaconda Copper Mining Company, it’s now preserved as Anaconda Smoke Stack State Park (viewing area only; the stack itself is not open to climb). In 1894, Anaconda nearly became Montana’s state capital, losing a bitter political fight between copper magnates Marcus Daly and William Clark to Helena by roughly 2,000 votes. The Deer Lodge County Courthouse (1898-1900), NRHP-listed, has an eight-part dome. The 1936 Washoe Theatre is considered an Art Deco masterpiece. Old Works Golf Course, designed by Jack Nicklaus, features unusual bunkers filled with black smelter slag.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via adlc.us.
Federal: VA Montana Health Care System (Fort Harrison/Helena, accessible north).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Hearst Free Library – 401 Main Street, Anaconda, MT 59711; genuinely a gift from Phoebe Hearst (mother of William Randolph Hearst), opened June 1898 as a Grecian-style classical building described at the time as having “not its equal in Montana”; roughly 24,000-31,000-volume collection, a member of a 24-library Montana cooperative; Hours: Mon/Fri 10 AM-5 PM, Tue-Thu 10 AM-6 PM, Sat 10 AM-4 PM, closed Sunday.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Anaconda Smoke Stack State Park, Georgetown Lake (blue-ribbon trout fishery), Lost Creek State Park (1,200-foot limestone cliffs), Discovery Ski Area, and Old Works Golf Course are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine world’s-tallest-masonry-structure status of the Anaconda Smelter Stack is a distinctive local fact.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Anaconda-Deer Lodge County – confirm current contact via adlc.us.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Anaconda-Deer Lodge County maintains animal control ordinances under Chapter 4 of its municipal code; confirm current shelter/contact via adlc.us.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Anaconda Smelter National Priority List (Superfund) Site – administered jointly with the EPA, covering over 200 square miles of the southern Deer Lodge Valley; confirm current contact via adlc.us or the Arrowhead Foundation (community Technical Assistance Grant group).
NOTES: Deer Lodge County is the sixth county in the Montana v2 A+ sourced redo’s second batch (Cascade, Chouteau, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Deer Lodge, Fallon). The genuine world’s-tallest-masonry-structure Anaconda Smelter Stack and the Phoebe Hearst library gift are distinctive local facts. 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 Deer Lodge County
Deer Lodge County is the world’s tallest masonry structure and one of America’s largest Superfund sites – the 585-foot Anaconda smelter stack that processed a century of Copper King copper towers over a community that has reinvented itself around its industrial heritage, including a Jack Nicklaus golf course on the toxic smelter site.
Anaconda (the county seat and only city, population ~9,000) has embraced its Superfund and copper heritage as a tourism identity unlike any other American industrial city.
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Deer Lodge County Assessor at 800 S. Main Street, Anaconda, MT 59711, phone 406-563-4060. MT residential assessed at market value, taxed at 1.35%.
Courts & Legal
Deer Lodge County District Court at 800 S. Main Street, Anaconda, MT 59711, phone 406-563-4060, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK AND RECORDER
800 Main St., Anaconda, MT 59711
(406) 563-4040
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
800 Main St., Anaconda, MT 59711
(406) 563-4040
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Deer Lodge County Clerk of District Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1898-99 Deer Lodge County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Deer Lodge 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
Deer Lodge County Clerk of District Court, Probate Division 800 South Main Street, Anaconda, MT 59711 (406) 563-4040
Deer Lodge County (a consolidated city-county government known as Anaconda-Deer Lodge) is in southwestern Montana, seated in Anaconda. The 1898-99 Deer Lodge County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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
800 Main St., Anaconda, MT 59711
(406) 563-4020
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
800 Main St., Anaconda, MT 59711
(406) 563-4040
ELECTIONS
800 Main St., Anaconda, MT 59711
(406) 563-4040
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MT DPHHS — Deer Lodge
(406) 563-4040
Community Hospital of Anaconda
communityhosp.net (Anaconda — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Public Health – confirm current contact via adlc.us.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Anaconda
Population: 9,100
Area: 737 sq mi
Established: 1865
Tier: 3
Public Records
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Search public records for Deer Lodge County residents.
