Justice Ingrid Gustafson, Montana Supreme Court
Justice Gustafson was appointed to the Montana Supreme Court in December 2017 and then elected in 2018. Prior to that, she presided over a general jurisdiction court serving for 14 years as a District Court Judge for the 13th Judicial District, Yellowstone County, Montana. She was appointed by Gov. Judy Martz to the District Court bench in 2004 and was elected 3 subsequent times.
Prior to taking the bench in 2004, Justice Gustafson practiced law for 16 years maintaining a broad-based private practice that included state and federal criminal defense, personal injury, and domestic relations cases. In 2011, Justice Gustafson started the 13th Judicial District’s felony drug court as well as a pilot court in the area of child dependency. She is past President of the Montana Judges Association and in 2017 served as a Commissioner on the Montana Justice Reinvestment Project. She also serves on the 21st Century Child and Family Well-Being Appellate Judicial Peer Group, Montana’s Court Improvement Program which focuses on improving Montana’s child welfare court processes, the Center for Effective Public Policy’s Practitioner Network on Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research, the National Center for State Courts Evidence-Based Sentencing Judicial Peer Group, Montana’s Pretrial Advisory Committee, and the State Bar's Fee Arbitration and Bench-Bar Relations Committees.
Justice Gustafson graduated from Montana State University with a degree in Business Marketing and is an NCAA All-American alpine ski racer and member of the Montana State University Athletic Hall of Fame. She then went on to receive her law degree from the University of Montana.