LibGuides: Court Records : Overview

Overview

Courts create records that have value to genealogists, scholars, attorneys, local historians, and other researchers. This guide provides a brief overview to:

Getting started in court records research
District Courts - documenting civil and criminal disputes in the 87 counties in Minnesota
Probate Courts - documenting the handling of wills and estates for deceased individuals and family matters in the 87 counties in Minnesota
Minnesota Supreme Court and Minnesota Court of Appeals - higher courts where decisions from district courts are sometimes sent on appeal
Other Minnesota courts - municipal courts, justice courts, courts of common pleas, family courts or divisions, juvenile courts, Tax Court, and Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals
Federal courts - United States courts, including those in Minnesota, whose records are housed at the National Archives facilities

Related Research Guides & Webpages

Adoption Research
A guide listing resources available at MNHS about people adopted in Minnesota.
Naturalization Records
A guide on researching nationalizations at MNHS.
State Institutions
A guide listing the resources available at the MNHS library.

Research Options

Visit the MNHS Library
Original materials, records, and newspapers on microfilm are available on site and reference staff can help with research.
District/County Court Case File Research Request
If you want us to do the research for you, check out this fee-based research service.
Supreme/Appeals Court Case File Research Request
If you would like us to do the research for you or if you have a specific citation for a case, check out this service to order case file copies.
Minnesota Judicial Branch Find a Court Case
Access to more recent online records for the Minnesota Supreme Court and Court of Appeals as well as trial court records.
Minnesota District Courts
Information about District Courts located in the 87 Minnesota counties. Includes contact information for court administration offices which may have historical indexes and more recent cases not found at MNHS.
U.S. National Archives Judicial Records
Overview of records of the Judicial Branch
Minnesota State Law Library
State Law Library located in St. Paul