A Message To Our Readers, Subscribers, Advertisers and Friends

It is with deep regret that we announce that the Daniels County Leader, after 104 years of publication, will cease newspaper operations in both print and digital formats. Our final issue will be published on July 30, 2026.

This decision has not been made lightly. The time has come for us to step away from newspaper publishing. Over the past several years, we have explored every avenue we could think of to keep the Leader going. We worked with newspaper brokers and offered the business for sale locally, statewide, and nationally. Despite extensive efforts to find a successor, those efforts were unsuccessful.

Effective Monday, June 15, we are no longer accepting new subscriptions or subscription renewals. With only a few weeks remaining before our final issue on July 30, we believe this is the most practical approach. While there is no perfect way to handle the situation, it makes more sense to discontinue renewals now rather than accept payments and then process refunds a short time later.

Local readers without subscriptions will still be able to purchase a copy of the Daniels County Leader through our final weeks at the Leader office or from our retail outlets, including Cromwell’s Convenience, R-TUR’s, D.C. Lanes, and Smoke Creek Inn.

Subscribers whose subscriptions extend beyond July 30 will have two options. We will offer a prorated refund for the unused portion of your subscription, or the balance will automatically be transferred to the Northern Plains Independent, which plans to provide as much coverage of Daniels County and the surrounding area as possible beginning with its August 6 edition. IF YOU PREFER A REFUND, please notify us by phone at 406-487-5303 or by email at 2leader@nemont.net no later than July 15, 2026. No refunds will be made after that date, as our subscriber list will have already been merged with the Northern Plains Independent.

Subscription refunds will be credited back to the card originally charged whenever possible. All other refunds will be issued by check. We ask for your patience as these matters are addressed. There is considerably more involved in winding down a 104-year-old newspaper than may appear on the surface, and it may take some time to complete all of the necessary details.

We also ask for your continued support through July 30 as we work through this transition and prepare for the next phase of our lives.

Daniels County has been very good to us. We are grateful to everyone who has supported the Leader over the years. We especially thank our loyal subscribers and the advertisers whose support made it possible for us to continue publishing and serve this community for more than a century.

While newspaper publication will end, the Daniels County Leader PRINTING BUSINESS will continue to operate under the Daniels County Leader name. We will continue to offer commercial printing, custom printing projects, and bulk paper sales.

However, we will be closing out our other office supply inventory at discounts over the coming weeks.

Following July 30, office hours will likely be sporadic as we transition to a printing-only operation. Most printing orders and business inquiries will be handled by phone or email.

Thank you for allowing us to be part of your lives, your businesses, your celebrations, your challenges, and your community for the past 104 years. It has been an honor and privilege to serve Daniels County.

Burl and Roz Bowler Publishers/Owners & Staff Mike Stebleton and VeraLynn Trangsrud Daniels County Leader