McKenzie County
McKenzie County occupies about 2,760 square miles of land area in extreme western North Dakota. It is the state's largest county by total area, and it is inhabited by at least 14,000 people. The county was founded in 1905 and named after Alexander McKenzie, a renowned politician at the time.
The Northwest Judicial District of North Dakota provides judicial services for McKenzie County residents through a District Court. The county's District Court has general and original jurisdiction in all cases except as otherwise provided by law. It exercises exclusive jurisdiction in criminal cases and has general jurisdiction over civil cases. The court is also authorized to issue original and remedial writs. In addition, the McKenzie County District Court serves as the county's juvenile court with sole and original jurisdiction over minors alleged to be delinquent, unruly, and deprived.
McKenzie County's Clerk of District Court office stores and maintains all records of the District Court's legal proceedings. These include records of the following case types:
- Civil cases
- Probate cases
- Criminal cases
- Traffic violation cases
- Adoption cases
- Juvenile cases
- Paternity cases
Most of the records held by the Clerk of the District Court office in McKenzie are public records. A few exceptions include records of juvenile, adoption, and paternity cases. Publicly available court records in the county can be obtained by visiting the Clerk of District Court office at Watford City. Alternatively, interested persons can access unrestricted case information of McKenzie County court records online through the North Dakota Courts' District Court Case Search System.
