John Warner (born January 22, 1943) is an American attorney and judge who served as an associate justice of the

Montana Supreme Court The Montana Supreme Court is the supreme court, highest court of the state court system in the U.S. state of Montana. It is established and its powers defined by Article VII of the 1972 Montana Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court wh ...

. Warner won an unopposed retention vote in 2006; he retired from the court in 2009. Warner was born and raised in

Great Falls, Montana Great Falls is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 census. The city covers an area of and is the principal city of the Great Falls, M ...

. He attended

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

, from which he earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in history and political science in 1965. In 1967, he graduated from the

University of Montana School of Law The Alexander Blewett III School of Law is a law school at the University of Montana in Missoula. It was established in 1911 and remains Montana's only law school. , the school accepted 83 applicants. The school tied for 103rd in the 2023 '' ...

. He served as a law clerk for the Montana Supreme Court from 1967–1968, and then practiced law as a

litigator - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

for twenty years in Havre. He held numerous legal positions during this time, including chairman of the Montana Supreme Court's Commission on Uniform District Court Rules, trustee and president of the State Bar of Montana, and Havre City Attorney. He was also

chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of Hill Top Recovery, an

alcohol rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general inte ...

center, on the board of directors of the Montana Amateur Athletic Union, president of Montana Swimming, Inc., District Delegate for the Montana Officials Association, and a member of his

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

council. In 1988, Warner was elected District Judge of the Montana 12th Judicial District, and he was re-elected in 1994 and 2000. While a judge, Warner also served as president of the Montana Judges Association, as chairman of the Montana Supreme Court's Sentence Review Division, and as chairman of the Montana Judicial Standards Commission. In May 2003, he was appointed to the Montana Supreme Court by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Judy Martz Judith Helen Martz (née Morstein; July 28, 1943 – October 30, 2017) was an American Republican Party politician, businesswoman, and Olympian speed skater who served as the 22nd governor of Montana from 2001 to 2005. She was the first and only ...

to replace the resigning Justice Terry N. Trieweiler. He retired from the court in 2009 and his position was filled by the appointment of Mike Wheat. Warner has six children with his wife, Katherine, and twelve grandchildren. He was recently in a bicycle accident due to an altercation with a white goose.

External links

Montana Supreme Court profile of Justice Warner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, John Justices of the Montana Supreme Court Montana lawyers 1943 births Living people Politicians from Great Falls, Montana Montana State University alumni University of Montana alumni People from Havre, Montana