A long time Tribal Court employee was picked to fill the vacant Tribal Court Administrator position.

Twila Symanski was chosen by the Tribal Executive Board for the position, which until now was held by only one other individual.

Tribal leadership were unclear if they had the authority to appoint Symanski, who was previously working as the Deputy Tribal Court Administrator.

For decades before Symanski, former Tribal Court Administrator Rita Weeks retired in September 2023. She was later elected to the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board.

Committee minutes from last week state Tribal Court Chief Judge Stacie Fourstar brought a prepared resolution to be passed by the Tribal Council. Fourstar wasn’t present for any discussion behind the resolution and was unfamiliar with it, minutes state.

Councilwoman Roxanne Gourneau said the job title is addressed in the Tribes Comprehensive Code of Justice, and it states the position shall be filled by an appointment by the TEB. The motion also came up in the wrong committee, this one being education and not law and justice. As Education Committee Chair, Gourneau said she would let the resolution go through her committee for the rest of the TEB to vote on, documents state.

Weeks said the job entails lots of responsibility from office management to budgets to administering grants. A great deal of time is spent dealing with the public, she said.

Symanski, 44, has worked with the Tribal Court for over 10 years.

The single mother of four boys graduated from Wolf Point High School in 1997. Since that time, she has earned an accounting certificate and an associate degree in Business Technologies

Symanski is currently working on a bachelor degree in Business Administration with a minor in criminal justice. She will be done at the end of this year.

A legal career is something Symanski wanted to do since she childhood. Her dream was to be a lawyer when she was younger, she said.

In April 2013, Symanski started as the Deputy Tribal Court Administrator. Duties include assisting with supervision, assist with grant administration, and helping others learn the court case management software.

When she first heard of the job, Symanski was working at Head Start. It looked appealing, since it was year-round office work as opposed to taking summers off.

In addition to the increased work, Symanski was an in-house transfer and it was the first time she had an opportunity to work in a law and justice related field.

Symanski also took the Tribes Bar Exam and Judges Qualifying Exam, passing both.

In 2019, Symanski unsuccessfully ran for a Tribal Court Judge position in the Tribal Election against Judge Fourstar.