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Montana County
Toole County, Montana
Shelby - where a small town hosted the heavyweight championship of the world - from the 1923 Dempsey-Gibbons fight (in one of the most audacious promotions in sports history, the tiny oil boomtown of Shelby, Montana - population about 500 - contracted to host the Jack Dempsey vs. Tommy Gibbons heavyweight championship fight on July 4, 1923, building a 40,000-seat arena on the prairie and nearly bankrupting four banks when anticipated ticket sales failed to materialize - the fight is the most improbable championship event in boxing history and defines Shelby's remarkable identity) and the Sweetgrass-Coutts border crossing (the busiest US-Canada commercial crossing between Minnesota and the Pacific coast).
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Office: Toole County Disaster & Emergency Services / Search & Rescue – (406) 450-2100; confirm current contact via toolecountymt.gov.
Sheriff: Toole County Sheriff’s Office – 235 Deer Lodge Avenue, PO Box 550, Shelby, MT 59474-0550 | (406) 434-5585 | Fax: (406) 434-7265; Sheriff Tyler Padilla. A combined city/county law enforcement agency serving Toole County and the incorporated cities of Shelby, Kevin, and Sunburst, overseen by the five-member Toole County Public Safety Commission. Also operates the Toole County Detention Facility.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-15 serves Shelby, the county seat, roughly 30 miles south of the Canadian border (Alberta) and about 80 miles east of Glacier National Park.
Notes: Toole County, established 1914 from parts of Hill and Teton Counties, is named for Joseph K. Toole, Montana’s first and fourth governor. Roughly 5,000-5,200 residents.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Toole County Courthouse – 226 1st St S, Shelby, MT 59474 | (406) 424-8300 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8 AM-5 PM; built 1933-1934.
Notes: IMPORTANT for InmateAid readers: Toole County is home to Crossroads Correctional Facility, a men’s private prison just west of Shelby operated under Corrections Corporation of America (CoreCivic) – Montana’s only private prison, housing detainees under state contract, with a capacity of 664. Separately, Shelby is genuinely famous for a legendary and disastrous piece of boxing history: on July 4, 1923, the town – with a population of only about 537-1,000 – hosted the World Heavyweight Championship bout between defending champion Jack Dempsey and challenger Tommy Gibbons, spurred by the 1922 discovery of oil in the nearby Kevin-Sunburst field. Promoters built an $82,000, 40,000-seat wooden arena using over a million feet of Montana-milled lumber, but only about 7,000 spectators attended; Dempsey won by decision after 15 rounds, and the event was a financial catastrophe that bankrupted four local banks. The Marias Museum of History & Art in Shelby displays fight memorabilia and a model of the arena alongside broader local, agricultural, and Native American history exhibits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Toole County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via toolecountymt.gov.
Federal: VA Montana Health Care System (Fort Harrison/Helena, accessible south).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Toole County Library – 229 2nd Ave S, Shelby, MT 59474 | (406) 424-8345 | Hours: Mon 1-6 PM, Wed 1-6 PM, Fri 10 AM-3 PM, closed Tue/Thu/Sat/Sun; established 1963. A Sunburst branch also operates, (406) 937-6980.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Marias Museum of History & Art and Champions Park (with kiosks and metal silhouettes commemorating the 1923 Dempsey-Gibbons fight) are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine 1923 Dempsey-Gibbons “cow town melee” fight and its financial fallout are among the most distinctive local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Toole County – confirm current contact via toolecountymt.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Animal control is handled directly by the Toole County Sheriff’s Office, (406) 434-5585.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Toole County Road & Weed Department – (406) 434-2742.
NOTES: Toole County is the third county in the Montana v2 A+ sourced redo’s eighth and final batch. The presence of Crossroads Correctional Facility, Montana’s only private prison, is directly InmateAid-relevant. The genuine 1923 Dempsey-Gibbons fight history is also a distinctive local fact. 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 Toole County
Toole County is where a town of 500 hosted the heavyweight championship of the world – Shelby’s 1923 Dempsey-Gibbons fight is the most improbable championship event in boxing history, and the Sweetgrass border crossing is the busiest US-Canada commercial crossing between Minnesota and the Pacific.
Shelby (the county seat, population ~3,300) serves Toole County’s agricultural, oil, and border crossing communities on Montana’s Hi-Line near the Canadian border.
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Toole County Assessor at 226 1st Street S., Shelby, MT 59474, phone 406-424-8320. MT residential assessed at market value, taxed at 1.35%.
Courts & Legal
Toole County District Court at 226 1st Street S., Shelby, MT 59474, phone 406-424-8320, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK AND RECORDER
226 1st St. S., Shelby, MT 59474
(406) 434-2232
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
226 1st St. S., Shelby, MT 59474
(406) 434-2232
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Toole County Clerk of District Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
FamilySearch’s “Montana, Toole County Records, 1913-1960” collection includes probate, naturalization, and marriage records from the Shelby courthouse.
Local societies
No dedicated Toole 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
Toole County Clerk of District Court, Probate Division 226 1st Street South, Shelby, MT 59474 (406) 424-8330
Toole County is in northern Montana on the Canadian border, seated in Shelby, part of the 9th Judicial District along with Glacier, Pondera, and Teton 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
226 1st St. S., Shelby, MT 59474
(406) 434-5575
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
226 1st St. S., Shelby, MT 59474
(406) 434-2232
ELECTIONS
226 1st St. S., Shelby, MT 59474
(406) 434-2232
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Toole County Public Health – confirm current phone via toolecountymt.gov.
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