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Missoula County, MT ballot

Justice of the Peace Department 1

Missoula County, Montana · November 3, 2026

Whether to retain Justice of the Peace Alex Beal of Department 1 for another term.

Full ballot text

Shall Judge ALEX BEAL of the JUSTICE OF THE PEACE DEPARTMENT 1 of the state of Montana be retained in office for another term?

What it does

Justices of the peace run Missoula County Justice Court, which hears misdemeanor and traffic cases, small claims and smaller civil cases, and requests for protective orders. They are elected countywide in nonpartisan races; a justice who runs unopposed stands for retention on a yes-or-no vote.

How it lines up with you

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Dossier

Researched 2026-09-23 · Claude Code research agent with web search

Judge Alex Beal, who holds Missoula County Justice Court Department 1 and is unopposed, faces a yes/no retention vote: yes keeps him for another four-year term; state law fills justice of the peace vacancies by county commissioner appointment. First elected in 2018 and re-elected in a contested 2022 race, he runs a specialized domestic-violence docket; we found no organized campaign for or against him.

For

None found.

Against

None found.

What it does

Judge Alex Beal holds this seat now; he was elected in November 2018 and re-elected in 2022 (Missoula County, official). Because he is the only candidate, the ballot asks a yes/no retention question (MCA 13-14-212, official); justices of the peace are elected "in the same manner as judges of the district court" (MCA 3-10-201, official). Yes gives him another four-year term (Legislative Services Division primer, 2022). Statutes we read do not spell out what follows a rejection for this office; justice of the peace vacancies are filled by county commissioner appointment until a successor is elected (MCA 3-10-206; MCA 7-4-2206, official). No statute states a percentage; in most states retention takes a simple majority of yes votes (IAALS, University of Denver).

Why it's on the ballot

Montana holds a yes/no vote when a judge seeking re-election is unopposed (Montana Judicial Branch). Beal earned a UM economics degree in 2000 and a UM law degree in 2005, worked as a prosecutor, public defender and private attorney, and was appointed an assistant Missoula Municipal Court judge in 2016 (Missoula County). In the 2022 primary he faced former sheriff's captain Bill Burt and retired police officer Daniel Kaneff (Seeley Swan Pathfinder, news, June 2, 2022).

Who supports it and why

We found no organized campaign for his retention.

Who opposes it and why

We found no organized campaign against his retention.

Money

We found no news coverage of fundraising, and state filings could not be read directly (Commissioner of Political Practices).

What to watch

Since 2022 he has run "Montana's first specialized domestic violence docket," and he founded MAP-IT, a Missoula abusive-partner treatment team (Missoula County). In 2022 he said he and Judge Landee Holloway reformed a troubled Justice Court, including hiring an independent administrator (KGVO, news, May 12, 2022). He has said most Justice Court work is traffic tickets and civil cases like evictions and small claims (Seeley Swan Pathfinder).

What we couldn't find

Notable individual rulings or disciplinary records; any 2026 campaign activity; and an official Montana source stating the retention threshold as a number.

Sources (11)