Deputy County Attorney Schoppe passes away unexpectedly

This article was originally published by Four Points Press on January 19, 2022.

"Father, son, brother, husband, friend and community champion Randen Luke Schoppe passed away at his Hardin residence during the early morning hours on January 19, 2022," Big Horn County Attorney Gerald "Jay" Harris said in a press release Wednesday.

Schoppe was hired as a deputy county attorney in late 2016 and had just completed his fifth year in service to the people of Big Horn County and State of Montana, Harris wrote. "The cases successfully prosecuted by Schoppe in the name of the State of Montana included everything from deliberate homicide to no seatbelt," Harris continued.

“Randen was a tremendous intellect who carried out his duties as a State criminal prosecutor with superb knowledge of law, great advocacy skills, and a strong sense of justice and community protection. I knew him not only as a good lawyer and devoted family man, but also as a friend and confidante.  Randen departs us much too soon, but his family can be proud of the legacy he established in Big Horn County community as a tireless advocate against injustice. Randen will always be remembered.”

Schoppe graduated from Little Big Horn College and the University of Montana and received a juris doctorate from Valparaiso School of Law in Indiana in 2006. While in law school he worked as a law clerk in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana.

Following admission to the Montana State Bar, Schoppe served as a public defender in all the local courts in Hardin until 2017, when he began his tenure as deputy county attorney. Schoppe ran for Big Horn County Attorney in 2014 and had recently filed a declaration of candidacy for the same office in 2022.

Schoppe was very active in the Hardin community, including a tenure on the governing board of the Helping Hands of Hardin food bank and with Hardin New Life church activities.