Greg Pinski is resigning his seat as a district court judge in Cascade County, effective Oct. 2.

He was elected in 2012 and again in 2018 to another six-year term.

The resignation will prompt the advertising of the position and the state Judicial Nominating Commission will accept those applications and public comment on them. It will then interview applicants and make a recommendation for appointment to the position. Pinski said he is committed to the orderly transition to his successor.

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In his resignation letter to Chief Justice Mike McGrath of the Montana Supreme Court, Pinski wrote, “it has been the highest professional privilege to serve the citizens of Cascade County as a district court judge. I possess a fundamental, principled belief that courts do not exist simply to dispense justice but to make the community a better, safer place. I am proud of the work I have done over the past nearly eight years to fulfill that principle.”

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Pinski established the Veterans Treatment Court for the Eighth Judicial District in 2013 and has also presided over the district’s Drug Treatment Court.

“The national acclaim afforded to Cascade County’s treatment courts resulted in an unprecedented expansion of resources to help those in need of treatment rather than incarceration. I am enormously proud of the $5 million in public and private grants I secured to expand these integral justice programs. Cascade County is now home to the finest veterans treatment court and drug treatment court in the United States,” Pinski wrote in his letter.

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The programs will continue under Judge John Kutzman, according to Pinski.

Pinski said he is planning to go into private practice with Conner, Marr and Pinski, and also plans to start a research, training and evaluation business to help improve veterans treatment courts nationwide, as well as a veterans law clinic.

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“The citizens entrusted me with the high honor of holding this position. I accomplished every goal and promise I made when elected and I leave the court system in a better place than when I arrived. There is more I want to accomplish, but these goals require my presence in the private sector,” Pinski wrote in his letter. “Thank you to the Cascade County citizens for their trust and confidence over the past nearly eight years. I have a deep appreciation for this community my family has called home since the early 1900s and I am thankful every day for the opportunities it provides.”