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Office: Sweet Grass County Disaster & Emergency Services – 200 West 1st Ave, Big Timber, MT | (406) 932-3011 | Hours: Mon-Thu 7 AM-12 PM, 1-5 PM, closed holidays. Also maintains an Emergency Operation Center, (406) 932-3014.
Sheriff: Sweet Grass County Sheriff’s Office – Law and Justice Center, 200 West First Avenue, PO Box 0567, Big Timber, MT 59011 | (406) 932-5143; Sheriff Alan Ronneberg. Formed in 1895, the office covers 1,862 square miles serving roughly 3,650-3,760 residents, handling search and rescue, criminal investigation, patrol, civil process, concealed weapons permits, prisoner transport, court security, and livestock brand inspections.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-90 and US-191 meet at Big Timber, the county seat, at the confluence of the Boulder and Yellowstone Rivers.
Notes: Sweet Grass County, established 1895 and named for sweet grass native to the area, spans 1,862 square miles.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Sweet Grass County Annex – 115 W 5th Ave, PO Box 888, Big Timber, MT 59011 | (406) 932-5152 | Fax: (406) 932-3026 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM.
Notes: Big Timber sits beneath the genuinely striking Crazy Mountains, an isolated range completely detached from the main Rocky Mountains, rising abruptly from the plains to 11,214 feet at Crazy Peak; geologists attribute the range to a laccolith intrusion roughly 50 million years old, where magma pushed up through sedimentary rock and cooled underground before later erosion exposed the hardened igneous core. The Boulder River, a 60-mile Yellowstone River tributary flowing past Natural Bridge (a limestone arch that collapsed in 1988), runs through terrain that has genuinely served as a filming location for both “A River Runs Through It” and “The Horse Whisperer.” A Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail interpretive site near Big Timber marks the expedition’s 1806 passage through the area.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Sweet Grass County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via sgcountymt.gov.
Federal: VA Montana Health Care System (Fort Harrison/Helena, accessible north).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Carnegie Public Library – 314 McLeod Street, Big Timber, MT 59011 | Hours: Tue-Sat 10 AM-6 PM; a genuine Carnegie library serving the community since 1913, NRHP-listed, holding a full back-issue archive of the Big Timber Pioneer newspaper.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Crazy Mountain Museum (2 S Frontage Rd, (406) 932-5126, featuring a Lewis and Clark native plant garden – one of only two remaining in Montana), Natural Bridge State Monument, and the Boulder River corridor are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine geological anomaly of the Crazy Mountains and the county’s Hollywood filming history are distinctive local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Sweet Grass County – confirm current contact via sgcountymt.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current animal control arrangements via sgcountymt.gov or the Sheriff’s Office, (406) 932-5143.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Sweet Grass County – confirm current contact via sgcountymt.gov.
NOTES: Sweet Grass County is the first county in the Montana v2 A+ sourced redo’s eighth and final batch. The genuine Crazy Mountains geological anomaly and the county’s Hollywood filming history 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 Sweet Grass County County
Sweet Grass County is south-central Montana’s Crazy Mountains and Boulder River county – the isolated granite island range that erupts from the plains with sacred Crow heritage and the wild trout stream with its natural bridge waterfall define a county where Big Timber serves the surrounding ranching and recreation communities on the Yellowstone River corridor.
Big Timber (the county seat, population ~1,700) is Sweet Grass County’s governmental hub on I-90, a south-central Montana community whose Crazy Mountains gateway, Boulder River canyon, Yellowstone River fishing, and wool shipping heritage anchor its identity.
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Sweet Grass County Assessor at 1 1st Avenue W, Big Timber, MT 59011, phone 406-932-5152. MT assessed at market value.
Courts & Legal
Sweet Grass County District Court at 1 1st Avenue W, Big Timber, MT 59011, phone 406-932-5152, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK AND RECORDER
1 Government Center, Big Timber, MT 59011
(406) 932-5152
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
1 Government Center, Big Timber, MT 59011
(406) 932-5152
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Sweet Grass County Clerk of District Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Sweet Grass 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
Sweet Grass County Clerk of District Court, Probate Division 200 West 1st Avenue (mail: P.O. Box 698), Big Timber, MT 59011 (406) 932-5154
Sweet Grass County is in south-central Montana, seated in Big Timber, part of the 6th Judicial District along with Park County.
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
1 Government Center, Big Timber, MT 59011
(406) 932-5143
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
1 Government Center, Big Timber, MT 59011
(406) 932-5152
ELECTIONS
1 Government Center, Big Timber, MT 59011
(406) 932-5152
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Sweet Grass County Public Health – confirm current phone via sgcountymt.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Big Timber
Population: 3,700
Area: 1,855 sq mi
Established: 1895
Public Records
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