Flathead County Attorney Travis Ahner is Sole Applicant for District Court Seat
Either Judge Amy Eddy or Judge Dan Wilson will leave the bench after November's Montana Supreme Court election, opening a seat in the 11th Judicial District
By Maggie Dresser
Flathead County Attorney Travis Ahner is the only applicant to fill an upcoming judicial vacancy on the Flathead County District Court, putting him in line for an appointment from Gov. Greg Gianforte.
The seat will open after the Nov. 3 Montana Supreme Court election, in which District Judges Amy Eddy and Dan Wilson are competing for retiring Justice Beth Baker’s seat. Whichever judge wins will leave the district bench, so a vacancy is guaranteed regardless of the outcome.
The governor’s office received only Ahner’s application by the Sept. 30 deadline. A 30-day public comment period began that day, and Gianforte must appoint a judge by Nov. 29, 2026.
“I am not presuming any sort of outcome and I’m looking forward to going through this process,” Ahner said.
Ahner has served as the county’s top prosecutor since his first term began in 2018 and is running for a third term in the 2026 election. In the decade before he became county attorney, Ahner worked as a prosecutor in Flathead County and as a special assistant to the U.S. Attorney. If he is selected as district court judge, Flathead County commissioners will appoint a new county attorney to replace him.
Ahner said he never set out to be county attorney, a job he has held for eight years. He took it, he said, because “nobody else wanted the job.” Others have encouraged him to seek a judgeship during his time in office, he said, but he wanted to make sure his department was adequately staffed and in a good position for his departure.
“It was just a matter of timing in terms of what was best for the office and figuring out a time when I could leave or who might have the experience or inclination to pick up the work — so I held off for a while,” Ahner said.
Ahner grew up in Helena and graduated from Carroll College in 2002. He said he initially planned to earn a graduate degree in theater, but settled on law school at the University of Oregon, where he became interested in prosecution.
His theater background, which ranged from Montana Shakespeare productions to improv groups, has translated into useful skills in the courtroom, he said. Memorizing scripts for plays is similar to memorizing binders of police reports during trial preparation, and improvisation has helped when surprises arise in court.
If appointed, Ahner said he will take a different approach on the bench while recognizing that he is “bound by the facts, evidence and the laws in place.”
“When you are on the bench, you are calling balls and strikes — you are not swinging the bat,” Ahner said.
Ahner also hopes to oversee an efficient courtroom.
“The court process is painful all around and if we can make it less painful and the process can be as efficient as possible – that’s a good thing,” Ahner said. “There will be a huge learning curve, and I’ll be dedicating a lot of my time and energy in getting up to speed on the areas of law I don’t normally deal with.”
Members of the public should submit letters or other comments by email to [email protected] or by mail to Attn: Caitlin Wagoner, Governor’s Office, PO Box 200801, Helena, Montana 59620.
Letters or other comments submitted will be publicly available and posted at nominatejudges.mt.gov. Applicants must receive at least three letters of support to be considered for appointment by the governor.