William Gerard Montgomery (born March 2, 1967) is an American attorney who has been a justice of the

Arizona Supreme Court The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. Sitting in the Supreme Court building in downtown Phoenix, the court consists of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justices. Each justi ...

since September 2019. He previously was the

County Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

for

Maricopa County, Arizona Maricopa County () is a County (United States), county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the List ...

, from 2010 to 2019.

Early life and education

Montgomery is a

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

graduate and a

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

veteran. Commissioned as a second lieutenant, he served six and a half years of active duty in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, including as a tank commander in the first Gulf War in Iraq, ending his service as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Career

During Montgomery's tenure, the county attorney's office gained national recognition for its Restitution Specialist and Sex Assault Backlog programs. While County Attorney, Montgomery called for written protocols to address use of force incidents and served as the Arizona State Director for the National District Attorneys Association. In August 2019, attorneys for Jodi Arias filed an ethics complaint against Montgomery, claiming he covered up misconduct and harassment by the lead prosecutor on the case. The complaint was later dismissed following a nearly 14-month screening process by the State Bar that found no evidence of any misconduct by Montgomery.

Elections

Arizona Attorney General

In 2006, Montgomery ran for

Arizona Attorney General The Arizona attorney general is the chief legal officer of the State of Arizona, in the United States. This state officer is the head of the Arizona Department of Law, more commonly known as the Arizona Attorney General's Office. The state attorn ...

, losing to incumbent Terry Goddard.

Maricopa County Attorney

In the 2010 special election to replace Andrew Thomas, who resigned to run for Arizona Attorney General, Montgomery defeated interim county attorney Rick Romley in the Republican primary. Montgomery went on to defeat Libertarian Michael Kielsky in the general election. Montgomery won election to a full term in 2012 in a rematch against Kielsky. He won re-election again in 2016 against Democrat Diego Rodriguez

Arizona Supreme Court appointment

In January 2019, Montgomery applied for an appointment to a vacancy in the

. The commission did not pass Montgomery's name to the governor, which is required for a judicial apportionment, citing "concerns over the pattern of misconduct at the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and a lack of relevant professional experience". In June 2019, Montgomery applied for a second vacancy on the Arizona Supreme Court. This time, after Governor

Doug Ducey Douglas Anthony Ducey ( ; ; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who served as the 23rd List of governors of Arizona, governor of Arizona from 2015 to 2023 and as State Treas ...

replaced several members of the state judicial nominating commission, Montgomery's name was sent to the governor, who selected him for the supreme court seat on September 4, 2019. Montgomery was sworn into office on September 6, 2019.

References

External links

Biography
at

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Vacancy Application
Archived from th
original
on September 4, 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Bill 1967 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers Arizona lawyers Arizona Republicans Justices of the Arizona Supreme Court District attorneys in Arizona