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Office: Fallon County Disaster & Emergency Services – 10 W Fallon Ave, Baker, MT 59313; confirm current phone via falloncountymt.gov.
Dispatch: Fallon County Dispatch – Non-emergency Main Admin Line (406) 778-7101 | Secondary Back-up (406) 978-3910.
Sheriff: Fallon County Sheriff’s Office – 10 W Fallon Ave, PO Box 899, Baker, MT 59313 | (406) 778-2879 | Fax: (406) 778-2815; Sheriff/Coroner Trenton Harbaugh, Undersheriff Nic Eisele. Handles cattle/hide/slaughter inspections, livestock shipping permits, civil process, and jail operations; visiting hours Wed and Fri 1:30-3:30 PM (first-come, first-served).
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-12 serves Baker, the county seat, in far southeastern Montana near the North Dakota border. Baker Municipal Airport (KBHK) serves the area.
Notes: Fallon County, created December 9, 1913 from a portion of Custer County, is named for Benjamin O’Fallon, a nephew of Captain William Clark and Indian agent for the upper Missouri region (1823-1827). Roughly 3,000 residents; Fallon later split further to form Carter County to the south the same year.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Fallon County Planning – 10 West Fallon Avenue, Baker, MT 59313 | confirm current phone via falloncountymt.gov.
Notes: Baker is genuinely home to the O’Fallon Historical Museum – a free, six-building complex anchored by the original 1916 Fallon County Jail (NRHP-listed), and famous nationwide for housing Steer Montana, a Roan Polled Shorthorn born locally in 1923 and certified as the world’s largest steer at 3,980 pounds, 5’11” tall, and over 10 feet long; a local rancher toured Steer Montana to over 60 state fairs and stock shows across the country during the Depression era before he returned to Baker as a permanent, still-taxidermied local celebrity. The museum also includes an original 1907 homestead and 1916 one-room schoolhouse.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Fallon County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via falloncountymt.gov.
Federal: VA Montana Health Care System (Fort Harrison/Helena, accessible west).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Fallon County Library – 6 West Fallon Avenue, Baker, MT 59313 | (406) 778-7160 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM; founded 1923 from a 200-book donation by the Women’s Club of Baker, now roughly 18,000-volume collection circulating over 23,000 items annually.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The O’Fallon Historical Museum (and Steer Montana) and the Fallon County Fairgrounds are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine world’s-largest-steer story of Steer Montana is one of the most memorable and distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Fallon County Treasurer – Barbara Ketterling, (406) 778-8125 or (406) 778-7109.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current animal control arrangements via falloncountymt.gov; the Sheriff’s Office (406) 778-2879 handles related countywide reports.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Fallon County Landfill / Sanitation-Environmental Health – 10 West Fallon Avenue, Baker, MT 59313 | confirm current phone via falloncountymt.gov.
NOTES: Fallon County is the seventh and final county in the Montana v2 A+ sourced redo’s second batch (Cascade, Chouteau, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Deer Lodge, Fallon) – closing out this batch. The genuine world’s-largest-steer story of Steer Montana is one of the most memorable local facts 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 Fallon County County
Fallon County is southeast Montana’s Bakken Formation oil and Baker Lake ranch county – the tight oil production that brought energy development to the eastern Montana plains and Baker Lake’s recreation in the arid badlands define a community where Baker serves the county’s ranching and energy families near the Dakotas.
Baker (the county seat, population ~1,700) is Fallon County’s governmental hub on US 12, a southeast Montana community whose Bakken oil production, Baker Lake recreation, and cattle ranching economy anchor its identity near the North Dakota border.
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Fallon County Assessor at 10 W. Fallon Avenue, Baker, MT 59313, phone 406-778-7106. MT assessed at market value.
Courts & Legal
Fallon County District Court at 10 W. Fallon Avenue, Baker, MT 59313, phone 406-778-7106, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK AND RECORDER
10 W. Fallon Ave., Baker, MT 59313
(406) 778-7100
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
10 W. Fallon Ave., Baker, MT 59313
(406) 778-7100
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Fallon County Clerk of District Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Fallon 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
Fallon County Clerk of District Court, Probate Division 10 West Fallon Avenue, Baker, MT 59313 (406) 778-7114 Fallon County is in Montana’s southeastern corner, seated in Baker.
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
10 W. Fallon Ave., Baker, MT 59313
(406) 778-7114
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
10 W. Fallon Ave., Baker, MT 59313
(406) 778-7100
ELECTIONS
10 W. Fallon Ave., Baker, MT 59313
(406) 778-7100
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Fallon County Public Health – 10 West Fallon Avenue, Baker, MT 59313 | confirm current phone via falloncountymt.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Baker
Population: 3,100
Area: 1,622 sq mi
Established: 1913
Public Records
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