Duane Simons
Republican · MT · Mineral County Commissioner
Duane Simons has been a Mineral County commissioner since 2008, after years as a logger and sawmill worker and nine years on the St. Regis School Board. Simons wants to grow timber and mill jobs and protect core services like law enforcement and roads.
Where Duane Simons stands, based on their records
Supports
Public Safety and Crime Control (2 records), Public Infrastructure (2 records)
Opposes
Government Spending Reduction (5 records)
Mixed record
Government Efficiency (1 support · 1 oppose)
Track record
Track record — Government Efficiency
Government Efficiency · 1 support · 1 oppose
Moved to put a local government study question on the June 2024 ballot, funded by up to two mills if approved. It passed unanimously.
March 1, 2024Supports Government Efficiency
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved that county commissioners would not live stream their meetings, after saying he opposed Zoom. The motion passed unanimously.
March 31, 2023Opposes Government Efficiency
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Track record — Government Spending Reduction
Government Spending Reduction · 5 oppose
Moved to give $70,000 in ARPA money to repair the Trestle Creek golf course; it failed 1-2. He then voted for $50,000, which passed 2-1.
November 29, 2024Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved to declare a county emergency after a windstorm cut power, allowing a two-mill emergency tax levy. It passed unanimously.
July 25, 2024Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved to put a local government study question on the June 2024 ballot, funded by up to two mills if approved. It passed unanimously.
March 1, 2024Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved to adopt the county's 2023-24 budget, including a new state rule to show tax increases on sample homes. It passed unanimously.
September 1, 2023Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved to give $86,345 in federal pandemic relief (ARPA) money for St. Regis broadband and a job training center. It passed unanimously.
July 7, 2023Opposes Government Spending Reduction
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Track record — Public Safety and Crime Control
Public Safety and Crime Control · 2 support
Moved to declare a county emergency after a windstorm cut power, allowing a two-mill emergency tax levy. It passed unanimously.
July 25, 2024Supports Public Safety and Crime Control
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved to let the state Attorney General's office prosecute a Mineral County felony homicide case. The resolution passed unanimously.
September 1, 2023Supports Public Safety and Crime Control
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Track record — Public Infrastructure
Public Infrastructure · 2 support
Moved to give $86,345 in federal pandemic relief (ARPA) money for St. Regis broadband and a job training center. It passed unanimously.
July 7, 2023Supports Public Infrastructure
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved to have Mineral County join the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority to study bringing passenger rail back. The motion passed unanimously.
September 24, 2021Supports Public Infrastructure
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Track record — General
General · 10 records
Seconded denying a $5,010 land survey bill; the deputy county attorney ordered it while securing a loan at Simons's direction. Simons said he never asked for a survey.
April 2, 2026
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved to pay a $62,215 legal bill a judge ordered the county to pay over a writ of mandamus case, split among three funds. It passed unanimously.
March 19, 2026
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Seconded and voted for a resolution opposing state bills that would limit or ban lobbying by the Montana Association of Counties. It passed unanimously.
February 13, 2025
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Joined the other commissioners in refusing the sheriff's $10,692 claim for his lawyer in his lawsuit against the county.
December 20, 2024
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved to take county 911 dispatchers out from under the sheriff and place them under the emergency services coordinator. It passed unanimously.
April 19, 2024
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved to let the Montana Association of Counties ask the state Supreme Court to rule on the statewide school mill levy. It passed unanimously.
October 20, 2023
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Voted against lowering the state school property tax levy on county bills from 95 mills to 77.9 mills. The cut passed 2-1.
October 12, 2023
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved to redraw the three county commissioner districts so each has about the same population. The resolution passed unanimously.
October 12, 2023
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Moved to back the sheriff's decision to fire a deputy, Micah Allard, and not rehire him. The motion passed unanimously.
June 4, 2021
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Commissioners sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Steve Daines opposing Deb Haaland's appointment as Interior Secretary; Simons's signature was stamped on it with the others.
February 12, 2021
Source: co.mineral.mt.us
Past race Duane Simons ran in:
- County Commissioner West End · November 3, 2026 · Mineral County, Montana · incumbent