St. Louis County
St.Louis County is situated within the Arrowhead Region of Northeastern Minnesota. Its land area of 6,860 square miles makes it the state's biggest county and its population is over 200,000. Duluth is its county seat.
St. Louis County has a unified trial court system composed entirely of a district court. The St. Louis County District Court has general jurisdiction over all civil and criminal lawsuits. Its jurisdiction also extends over all civil, family, probate, juvenile, criminal, and traffic cases. The District Court, which is located in Duluth, Hibbing, and Virginia, is categorized into various divisions according to case type, and they include:
- Criminal Division
- Civil Division
- Family Division
- Probate Division
- Juvenile Division
- Housing Division
- Misdemeanor Division
- Small Claims (Conciliation) Division
- Traffic Division
The Conciliation Division of the St. Louis County District Court handles general civil claims for amounts in dispute below $7,500 and small claims for amounts of $4,000 or less if it is related to a consumer credit transaction.
St. Louis County court records refer to various filed information arising from the activities of different District Court cases tried in the county. Court records, which are usually maintained in electronic or paper formats, also have different forms, including video/audio recordings, photographs, and microfilms. Court record documents typically include petitions, motions, case transcripts, orders, and judgments. St. Louis County regularly organizes case proceeding information into the following court records:
- Probate records
- Civil records
- Criminal records
- Family Law records
- Juvenile records
The St. Louis County Clerk of the District Court is the court record custodian for all the District Courts in the county. Per Section 13.06 of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA), court records are classified as public records subject to public inspection and copy. Requesters can use the Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO) search portal to look up court records online. For detailed case information, they can use the public access terminals at the courthouses where their cases were filed. Record seekers can also make in-person requests to the court clerk for court record copies after paying the required fees.
