James Franklin Battin

Who was James Franklin Battin?

James Franklin Battin was a Republican U.S. Representative from the U.S. state of Montana, and later a United States federal judge.

Born in Wichita, Kansas, Battin moved with his parents to Montana in November 1929. He was educated in the public schools of Billings, then the third largest city in the state, graduating from high school there in 1942. He enlisted in the United States Navy and served for three years, two and a half years of which were in the Pacific theater of operations. He returned to his studies and graduated in 1948 from Eastern Montana College in Billings.

He received a J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 1951, and was in private practice of law in Washington, D.C. from 1951 to 1952, then in Billings from 1953 to 1960. He was a deputy county attorney of Yellowstone County, Montana from 1953 to 1955, then general counsel and secretary of the City-County Planning Board of Billings in 1955. In 1955 he became an assistant city attorney of Billings, and was the city attorney from 1957 to 1958. He served as member of the Montana House of Representatives in 1958 and 1959.