MISSOULA — A bill signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte earlier this year now requires elections for all municipal court judges.

Missoula currently has one elected judge and two part-time assistant judges. Now in the past, the one elected judge had the authority to appoint the two part-time judges.

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But Senate Bill 127 eliminates the ability of a municipal court judge to appoint part-time assistant judges. With current Municipal Court Judge Kathleen Jenks retiring that left three full-time municipal court judge openings.

Starting with Missoula Municipal Court Judge Department 1 Jennifer Streano and Sam Warren were vying for Jenks' open seat. Streano had a comfortable lead, on her way to victory,

For Municipal Court Judge Department 2, Eli Parker was an easy winner over Thorin Geist for judgeship and for Department 3, Jacob Coolidge grabbed 61% of the vote to defeat Ethan Lerman.