Newly elected Ravalli County Commissioner Dan Huls and newly re-elected Clerk Of District Court Paige Trautwein both took the oath of office last week at the county administration building in Hamilton. Both candidates ran unopposed and garnered 97.31% and 97.59% of the vote, respectively.
Huls is coming into the position from a life-long career operating the family owned Huls Dairy business in Corvallis. But he also has a long history of community involvement and serves on several prominent boards, including the Teller Wildlife Refuge, the Mountain West Cooperative, the Corvallis Canal and Water Company, and the Humble Drain. He is a member of the Ravalli County Right to Farm & Ranch Board and serves on the advisory committee for the Western Montana Agricultural Research Center. He has served on the Ravalli County Planning Board for over 10 years.
“I’m thankful for all the support that I’ve gotten in the primary and in the general election,” said Huls, “and I will do my best to maintain the integrity of the office and hopefully our quality and way of life here in the Bitterroot.”
Huls said he was not coming in with any agenda except perhaps to maintain the status quo and make the transition as smooth as possible.
“Obviously with growth and with what’s going on with the pandemic, the unrest in the rest of the country is going to be foremost on our radar,” said Huls. “I hope that down the road we can keep this place the best place that it is today.”
Paige Trautwein is no stranger to the Clerk of District Court’s office, having worked there for almost 20 years now. She first took on the top job in the office on January 1, 2013, replacing former Clerk Debbie Harmon.
“It’s been a really good ride,” said Trautwein. “She said she has enjoyed being on several state committees and still serves on the automation committee which over the last three and half years has worked on getting the Full Court Enterprise system built and standardized in the state.
Trautwein said that she was very excited about getting the E-Filing system established this spring which will enable filing court documents strictly on-line and will eliminate tons of paperwork and documentation filing, saving thousands of dollars for the Court.
“The judges have agreed to do it and I’m very excited about it,” said Trautwein.