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Office: Prairie County Disaster & Emergency Services – coordinated through the Sheriff’s Office; confirm current contact via prairiecountymt.gov.
Sheriff: Prairie County Sheriff’s Office – 217 West Park Street, PO Box 126, Terry, MT 59349-0126 | (406) 635-5738 | Fax: (406) 635-4126 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Keifer Lewis, Undersheriff Jonathan Arnold. Hours Mon-Fri 8 AM-noon, 1-5 PM. Three full-time sworn officers cover 1,730 square miles, contracting with the Southeastern Montana Dispatch Center (Miles City) for dispatch and providing law enforcement to the Town of Terry under contract.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-94 serves Terry, the county seat, in eastern Montana on the Yellowstone River.
Notes: Prairie County, created by the Montana Legislature in 1915 from parts of Custer, Dawson, and Fallon Counties, took its name from a naming contest reflecting the region’s dominant prairie landscape. Roughly 1,100 residents – Montana’s fifth-least-populous county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Prairie County Courthouse – 309 Garfield Ave (also houses the library), Terry, MT 59349.
Notes: Terry is genuinely famous as the home of Evelyn Cameron, an English-born photographer who settled near Terry in 1893 with her husband Ewen; after their imported polo-pony venture failed, she took up photography with a mail-order camera, ultimately amassing roughly 1,800 glass-plate/nitrate negatives and 3,000 prints documenting eastern Montana frontier life (cowboys, sheepherders, ranch work, wildlife, and weddings) between 1894 and 1928, alongside detailed diaries; her work remained largely unknown until rediscovered by historian Donna Lucey in the late 1970s, and she’s now celebrated as one of the most significant photographers of the American West, the subject of a PBS documentary. The Prairie County Museum and Evelyn Cameron Gallery, opened 1975 in the historic 1916 State Bank of Terry building, displays her work alongside a pioneer homestead, a Burlington Northern train depot, an old wooden caboose, and – genuinely – the only steam-heated outhouse west of the Mississippi River.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Prairie County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via prairiecountymt.gov.
Federal: VA Montana Health Care System (Fort Harrison/Helena, accessible west).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Prairie County Library – 309 Garfield Avenue, PO Box 275, Terry, MT 59349 | (406) 635-5546 | Fax: (406) 635-4126/5546 | Hours: Tue-Fri 2-5 PM, also Tue 7-8:30 PM; roughly 12,000-13,000-volume collection, governed by a five-person appointed board; offers VHS/DVD rental, interlibrary loan, and public computers.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Prairie County Museum and Evelyn Cameron Gallery, the Terry Badlands Wilderness Study Area (BLM-managed, part of the National Landscape Conservation System), and the Yellowstone River corridor are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine legacy of pioneering photographer Evelyn Cameron is one of the most distinctive cultural-heritage facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Prairie County – confirm current contact via prairiecountymt.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current animal control arrangements via prairiecountymt.gov or the Sheriff’s Office, (406) 635-5738.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Prairie County – confirm current contact via prairiecountymt.gov.
NOTES: Prairie County is the sixth county in the Montana v2 A+ sourced redo’s sixth batch. The genuine legacy of pioneering photographer Evelyn Cameron is one of the most distinctive cultural-heritage 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 Prairie County County
Prairie County is southeast Montana’s Yellowstone River and Evelyn Cameron photography county – the longest undammed river in America and the extraordinary frontier photography archive that is one of the finest documentary records of the American West define a county where Terry serves the county’s ranching families in the open eastern Montana plains.
Terry (the county seat, population ~590) is Prairie County’s governmental hub on I-94, a southeast Montana community whose Evelyn Cameron Museum, Yellowstone River access, and cattle ranching economy anchor its identity.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Prairie County Assessor at 217 W. Main Street, Terry, MT 59349, phone 406-635-5575. MT assessed at market value.
Courts & Legal
Prairie County District Court at 217 W. Main Street, Terry, MT 59349, phone 406-635-5575, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK AND RECORDER
217 W. Mildred St., Terry, MT 59349
(406) 635-5575
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
217 W. Mildred St., Terry, MT 59349
(406) 635-5575
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Prairie County Clerk of District Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Prairie 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
Prairie County Clerk of District Court, Probate Division 217 West Park Street (mail: P.O. Box 125), Terry, MT 59349 (406) 635-5575
Prairie County is in eastern Montana, seated in Terry, part of the 7th Judicial District along with Dawson, McCone, Richland, and Wibaux counties.
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
217 W. Mildred St., Terry, MT 59349
(406) 635-5738
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
217 W. Mildred St., Terry, MT 59349
(406) 635-5575
ELECTIONS
217 W. Mildred St., Terry, MT 59349
(406) 635-5575
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Prairie County Health Department – confirm current phone via prairiecountymt.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Terry
Population: 1,200
Area: 1,737 sq mi
Established: 1915
Public Records
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