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Montana · Billings · Yellowstone River Valley · #202 Most Populous County in the US
Yellowstone County, Montana
Billings - Montana's largest city and the economic capital of the Northern Great Plains, where the Yellowstone River carves through rimrock cliffs and energy, agriculture, and healthcare drive one of the most resilient mid-sized economies in the Mountain West. Property tax, courts, public records, probate, and senior services for Yellowstone County residents.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
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Yellowstone County's assessment ratio means effective tax rates are low — but incorrect appraisals still cost money. Ownwell manages the appeal with no upfront cost.
Office: Yellowstone County Disaster & Emergency Services – confirm current phone via co.yellowstone.mt.gov; coordinates with the National Weather Service, RiverStone Health, and the Montana State Emergency Coordination Center.
Sheriff: Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office – 2323 2nd Ave. N, Billings, MT 59101 | Non-emergency (406) 256-2929 | Fax: (406) 256-2934; Sheriff Mike Linder. Operates administration, animal control, civil, and detective divisions, a detention center, coroner services, weapons permits, and the sex/violent offender registry; also maintains a volunteer Sheriff’s Reserve program.
City Police: Billings Police Department – 220 N 27th St, Billings, MT 59101 | Records window Mon-Fri 8 AM-6 PM, Sat 10 AM-12 PM; $5 fee for records, valid photo ID required.
Detention: Yellowstone County Detention Facility – 3165 King Ave East, Billings, MT | (406) 256-6881.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-90 and I-94 serve Billings, the county seat and Montana’s most populous city.
Notes: Yellowstone County, established February 26, 1883, is Montana’s most populous county (roughly 165,000-173,000 residents) and is named for the Yellowstone River, which itself was named for the yellow sandstone Rimrock cliffs found within the county (not directly for Yellowstone National Park, though related in etymology).
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Yellowstone County Courthouse – 217 N. 27th St, Billings, MT 59101.
Notes: Yellowstone County is genuinely home to Pompeys Pillar National Monument, a 150-foot sandstone butte along the Yellowstone River bearing the actual carved signature of William Clark, dated July 25, 1806 – the only remaining physical evidence on the landscape of the entire Lewis and Clark Expedition. The site also holds archaeological evidence of human activity spanning an estimated 11,000 years, and the modern Interpretive Center (opened 2006) tells the story of Clark’s detachment, including Sacagawea and her son Jean Baptiste “Pomp” Charbonneau, for whom the pillar is named. The Western Heritage Center in downtown Billings, a Smithsonian-affiliated regional museum, is housed in the historic 1901 Parmly Billings Memorial Library building, a Richardsonian Romanesque structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Yellowstone County Veterans Service – confirm current contact via co.yellowstone.mt.gov.
Federal: VA Montana Health Care System (Fort Harrison/Helena, accessible west); a Billings VA clinic is also accessible.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Billings Public Library – 510 North 28th Street (also listed as 510 N Broadway), Billings, MT 59101 | (406) 657-8258 | Hours: Mon-Thu 10 AM-9 PM, Fri 10 AM-6 PM, Sat 10 AM-5 PM, Sun 1-5 PM; features a Montana Room local history collection, Bookmobile, and Senior/Homebound Outreach Bookmobile serving Yellowstone County.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Pompeys Pillar National Monument, the Western Heritage Center, the Rimrocks, ZooMontana, and Montana State University Billings are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine William Clark 1806 signature at Pompeys Pillar – the only remaining physical trace of the entire Lewis and Clark Expedition on the landscape – is one of the most historically significant local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Yellowstone County – 217 N. 27th St, Billings, MT 59101; confirm current phone via co.yellowstone.mt.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter (YVAS) – Billings, MT; an open-door shelter (est. 2009) that turns away no animal from the city of Billings and is Montana’s largest shelter, taking in over 5,000 animals annually.
Help for Homeless Pets (HHP) – 2910 Hannon Road, Billings, MT; a no-kill shelter serving Yellowstone County since 1998, open daily 1-6 PM.
Yellowstone County Animal Control is also operated through the Sheriff’s Office, (406) 256-2929.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Yellowstone County Public Works – confirm current phone via co.yellowstone.mt.gov.
NOTES: Yellowstone County is the eighth and final county in the Montana v2 A+ sourced redo – completing all 56 counties in Montana. The genuine William Clark 1806 signature at Pompeys Pillar, the only remaining physical Lewis and Clark Expedition trace on the landscape, is one of the most historically significant 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 Yellowstone County
Yellowstone County is Billings – Montana’s largest city and the economic capital of a vast region that extends well beyond Montana’s borders into Wyoming, the western Dakotas, and the Canadian plains. Billings’s self-description as the “Magic City” (it grew so rapidly after its 1882 founding that early residents called it magical) reflects a city that has served as the commercial, financial, medical, and transportation hub of the Northern Great Plains for nearly 150 years.
The Yellowstone River – the longest undammed river in the contiguous United States – flows through Yellowstone County on its journey from Yellowstone National Park northeast to the Missouri River. The river valley’s agriculture – sugar beets, wheat, barley, and cattle ranching – has been the economic foundation of the region since European-American settlement, and the Huntley Project irrigation district (one of the Bureau of Reclamation’s earliest projects) has sustained farming in the valley since 1907.
Energy is Yellowstone County’s other great economic pillar. The county sits at the center of Montana’s oil and gas production territory, with the Williston Basin (the Bakken Formation) to the north and east and significant coal resources to the east. Calumet Montana Refining (formerly ExxonMobil’s Billings refinery) is one of the largest refineries in the Mountain West. The energy industry’s boom-and-bust cycles have shaped Yellowstone County’s economic character in ways still felt in the community’s fiscal planning and employment base.
Healthcare is Billings’s most stable and growing economic sector – Billings Clinic and St. Vincent Healthcare (now RiverStone Health) are the two major hospital systems, together making Billings the regional referral center for a service area of approximately 500,000 people across a huge geographic footprint.
Montana State University Billings (MSUB, enrollment ~4,000) provides higher education and workforce training. The Yellowstone Art Museum and Alberta Bair Theater anchor Billings’s cultural life.
County government is a three-member Board of County Commissioners with separately elected offices for the Assessor (handled by state DOR), Attorney, Clerk and Recorder, Clerk of District Court, Coroner, Sheriff, Superintendent of Schools, and Treasurer.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Montana’s property tax system is class-based – different property types are assessed at different percentages of market value, set by the Montana legislature:
Residential property: The Montana Department of Revenue (DOR) determines market value and applies the legislatively set taxable value percentage (approximately 1.35% of market value for residential class property in recent years – confirm the current rate with the DOR as it is subject to legislative adjustment). Mill levies set by local governments are then applied to the taxable value.
The Montana Department of Revenue – Billings Field Office (2020 Overland Avenue, Suite 100, Billings, 406-896-4000) handles all property assessments in Yellowstone County. Montana’s property assessments are conducted by the state DOR rather than county assessors – a significant structural difference from most states.
The appeal process:
If you disagree with your property’s market value or classification, you may:
Step 1 – Informal review with DOR: Contact the Billings DOR Field Office for an informal review within 30 days of receiving your assessment notice.
Step 2 – Montana Tax Appeal Board (MTAB): File a formal appeal with the MTAB in Helena within 30 days of the DOR’s informal review decision. The MTAB is a state administrative body that provides independent review.
Step 3 – District Court: Appeal the MTAB’s decision to the Yellowstone County District Court within 30 days.
Senior and disabled exemptions: Montana offers property tax assistance for qualifying low-income seniors and disabled residents – the Property Tax Assistance Program (PTAP) reduces the taxable value percentage for qualifying homeowners. Apply through the Montana DOR.
No Montana estate tax. No Montana inheritance tax. No Montana sales tax. Federal estate tax applies above approximately $13.9 million (2025).
OWNWELL CTA: Yellowstone County property values are set by the Montana DOR – appeal informally within 30 days of notice, then formally to the MTAB. No MT estate, inheritance, or sales tax. PTAP assistance for qualifying low-income seniors. Ownwell manages the appeal with no upfront cost.
Recommended
Yellowstone County property values are set by the Montana DOR - appeal informally within 30 days of notice, then formally to the MTAB. No MT estate, inheritance, or sales tax. PTAP assistance for qualifying low-income seniors. Ownwell manages the appeal with no upfront cost.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
The Yellowstone County District Court (Thirteenth Judicial District) at 217 N. 27th Street, Billings (406-256-2901) handles all civil, criminal, family, and probate matters. The Yellowstone County Clerk of District Court at the same address maintains all court records. The Yellowstone County Clerk and Recorder (406-256-2785) at 217 N. 27th Street maintains all land records – deeds, mortgages, and recorded documents – searchable online at co.yellowstone.mt.gov.
Montana probate: governed by the Montana Uniform Probate Code (Title 72, MCA). Montana allows simplified small estate affidavit procedures for qualifying estates. Montana recognizes Transfer on Death deeds for real property.
Energy sector estate planning: Yellowstone County’s oil and gas industry creates specific estate planning needs around mineral rights ownership. Montana mineral rights are separately owned and separately conveyed from surface rights – an estate that includes producing mineral interests (oil wells, gas royalties) requires specific appraisal (reserve-based valuation) and succession planning. Mineral rights that have been severed from the surface estate may have passed through multiple generations without clear title.
Agricultural estate planning: Yellowstone County’s farming and ranching families navigate Montana’s specific agricultural succession challenges – the Montana Farm Bureau and Montana State University Extension Service provide resources, but working with attorneys familiar with agricultural land trusts, conservation easements with the Montana Land Reliance, and USDA FSA program payment eligibility is essential.
Senior Services: The Yellowstone County Senior Services / South Central Montana Area Agency on Aging (406-247-4730) at 2900 4th Avenue N, Billings coordinates senior centers, home-delivered meals, transportation, SHIP Medicare counseling, caregiver support, Adult Protective Services, and connections to Montana Medicaid long-term care programs.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK AND RECORDER
217 N. 27th St., Billings, MT 59101
(406) 256-2785
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
217 N. 27th St., Billings, MT 59101
(406) 256-2785
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Yellowstone County Clerk of District Court (probate, civil, criminal, juvenile records – see Probate section above).
Yellowstone County Clerk and Recorder has birth, death, land, and military records dating from 1883-1884.
FamilySearch’s “Montana, Yellowstone County Records, 1881-2011” collection includes images of vital, probate, deeds, and discharge records from the Billings courthouse.
Local societies
Yellowstone Genealogy Forum (YGF), c/o Parmly Billings Library, 510 North Broadway, Billings, MT 59101.
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
Yellowstone County Clerk of District Court, Probate Division
Yellowstone County Courthouse, 217 N. 27th Street, Rooms 702-704 (mail: P.O. Box 35030), Billings, MT 59107 (406) 256-2851 (main); (406) 256-2865 (probate) Yellowstone County was created February 26, 1883 from Custer County. It is Montana’s most populous county, seated in Billings, the state’s largest city.
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 – a bank, for instance – to collect it. This process skips probate court entirely; if an institution refuses to release the asset, the inheritor can ask the court to compel release. Filing must happen within 3 years of the death.
Summary Administration – a streamlined court process available for estates valued at $100,000 or less; unlike the affidavit procedure, this route 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. If all legal requirements are met, the clerk files the will (if any) and appoints the personal representative, 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 who should be appointed personal representative or how assets should be distributed. This route involves a district court judge.
Supervised Administration – an additional layer of formal probate where the court retains ongoing supervision over the personal representative’s actions.
An estate can be opened informally and closed formally, or opened formally and closed informally, depending on how things unfold.
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 according to the will or Montana’s intestacy laws, then closes the estate.
What it costs
Montana does not set statutory percentage-based fees the way some states do; personal representative and attorney fees are generally “reasonable compensation” based on time and complexity, subject to court review if contested.
Montana has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates (the federal exemption is $15,000,000 per person as of 2026).
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 N. 27th St., Billings, MT 59101
(406) 256-2929
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Elections)
217 N. 27th St., Billings, MT 59101
(406) 256-2785
ELECTIONS
217 N. 27th St., Billings, MT 59101
(406) 256-2785
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
MT DPHHS — Yellowstone
(406) 247-5100
Billings Clinic
billingsclinic.org (Billings — major regional hospital; Level II Trauma; dominant eastern Montana healthcare anchor)
St. Vincent Healthcare
svh.org (Billings — major regional hospital; Level II Trauma)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: RiverStone Health (Yellowstone County/City-County Health Department) – confirm current phone via co.yellowstone.mt.gov.
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Recommended for Montana
Ownwell
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