Montana Title 3. Judiciary, Courts § 3-7-201. Designation of water judge

(1) A water judge must be designated for each water division by a majority vote of a committee composed of the district court judge from each single-judge judicial district and the chief district judge from each multijudge judicial district, wholly or partly within the division. Except as provided in subsection (2), a water judge must be a district court judge or retired district court judge of a judicial district wholly or partly within the water division.

(2) A district court judge or retired district court judge may sit as a water judge in more than one division if requested by the chief justice of the supreme court or the water judge of the division in which the judge is requested to sit.

(3) A water judge, when presiding over a water division, presides as district court judge in and for each judicial district wholly or partly within the water division.