Minnesota Court Case Lookup

Minnesota Court Case Lookup

In Minnesota, a court case is a dispute between opposing parties addressed by a court or by an equivalent legal procedure. Court case records in Minnesota are accessible to members of the public. The Open Records Law Minn. Statutes 13.01 et seq, sets a presumption that all government data are public unless specifically stated otherwise in the legislation. In a court proceeding, a judge or jury determines who is liable or guilty in a dispute between parties. In Minnesota, a single federal district court, a state supreme court, an appeals court, and trial courts with both broad and narrow jurisdiction are all present, with all of them having various functions.

• The Supreme Court: This court is in charge of regulating the legal practice and establishing state-wide norms of procedure and practice for use in all state courts. The Minnesota Supreme Court, which has appellate or original jurisdiction as granted by the Minnesota Constitution, is the court of last resort in disputes brought before Minnesota state courts. Disputes involving the constitutional rights of Minnesotans are frequently resolved by the court. The Minnesota Court of Appeals and Minnesota's trial courts are guided by Supreme Court rulings.
• Court of Appeals: All final judgments rendered by the trial courts, state agencies, and municipal governments are swiftly and carefully reviewed by the Minnesota Court of Appeals for the benefit of the state's residents. The Court of Appeals handles the majority of appeals since it is the court that corrects errors, freeing up the Minnesota Supreme Court's time to focus on challenging constitutional and public policy disputes.
• District Court: The District Court is the state's main trial court and is divided into 10 districts. Each of Minnesota's 87 counties has a district court that handles criminal, civil, and family issues.

Individuals can conduct a court case lookup online or in person at the Minnesota Judicial Branch. Online requests can be made via the Access Case Records tools available on the Minnesota Judicial Branch website. The tool to use depends on the court that handled the case.

Alternatively, individuals can conduct court case lookups by visiting the courthouse where the case was handled. In-person requests can be made during business hours. Requesters must provide basic information (like name or case number) about the case to facilitate the search. Additionally, each Minnesota district courthouse allows access to court cases through a public access terminal. Requesters can also fill out forms to access case records at the district court where the case was handled.

Are Court Cases Public Record in Minnesota?

Yes. According to the Minnesota Rules of Public Access, all court records are assumed to be public and available for review and copying unless a court rule, law, or court order specifies otherwise. Rule 4, subdivision 1 lists court records that are not accessible to the public, including domestic abuse and harassment records, juvenile appeal cases, medical records, and minor victim-identifying information.

Can I Get Minnesota Court Case Documents Online?

Yes. the Minnesota Judicial Branch has two online Access Case Records tools that can be used to retrieve court case documents. These tools are:

• Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO): Requesters can use this tool to get Minnesota state district court records and documents. MCRO has four search tabs: Case Search, Document Search, Hearing Search, and Judgment Search.
• P-MACS: Requesters can use this tool to get Minnesota Supreme Court and Court of Appeals case documents. With P-MACS, a requester can conduct a search by case or participant.

How to Conduct a Minnesota Court Search by Name

A record seeker can conduct a court search by name online or in person at the court where the case was handled. An online court search by name can be done on the Minnesota Judicial Branch website. Upon visiting the website, click “ACCESS CASE RECORDS” at the top bar. Click either the “Minnesota District (Trial) Court Case Search” or “Access Court of Appeals or Supreme Court Case Records” option. A click on any search option provides a drop-down to the search links. The District (Trial) Court Case Search tool has a Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO) link allowing requesters to search by case party or attorney's last and first names. The Access Court of Appeals or Supreme Court Case Records tool has a P-MACS link where requesters can conduct a search by the case party’s last name (or company/organization name), first name, or middle name.

Alternatively, a record seeker can a court search by name by visiting the court with jurisdiction over the case. They must provide the case party’s first or last name to facilitate the search. In a situation where the case party's name is unknown, they can provide the name of the attorney or judge in charge of the case.

What is a Court Case Number?

A court case number is a number that is used to identify various civil and criminal proceedings. A court case number format varies based on the court where the lawsuit was filed and may consist of letters, numbers, or other characters. Using case numbers inside a court case system allows consistent access to case information. Each document presented to the court must reference the relevant case number. This will aid in ensuring effective document transmission inside the court.

How to Conduct a Case Number Search in Minnesota

Members of the public who wish to conduct a case number search may do so by clicking on the "document search" icon in the Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO). This enables record seekers who are conducting court case record search by number to discover publicly available court case records online. Additionally, individuals may visit the district courtroom where the case was held in order to obtain counter access to locally kept, public case documents in written form by submitting the document number.

Minnesota Court Records Lookup

Members of the public can conduct a court record lookup through the following means

• Visiting Minnesota District Courthouse's counter or public access terminals and
• Visiting the Minnesota Judicial Branch access records page online which offers the Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO) and the Minnesota Public Access Remote (MPA Remote).

How to Remove Court Cases From Public Record in Minnesota

Court cases in Minnesota can only be removed from public record through expungement. According to Minnesota law Minn. Stat.ch. § 609A, expungement refers to sealing a criminal record to prevent public access. An order to seal a criminal record can only be made by a District Court Judge. A judge's expungement order seals the criminal record and forbids the court and state agencies from acknowledging, disclosing, or opening the criminal record unless specifically ordered to do so by the court or as permitted by law. It does not destroy the court case record. The circumstances under which a judge may seal all government-held records, often known as full expungement, are outlined in Minnesota Statutes 609A.02. The process involved in getting a court case expunged include

• Get criminal case history
• Get the court forms
• Complete the forms
• Serve notice of expungement on Government Offices
• The court hearing

By purchasing a package of pre-printed forms and the criminal case history at the courthouse where the case was heard, or by downloading the Criminal Expungement Forms, a person can petition to have a court case expunged.

The $300 filing fee to the Court is not required of the person who seeks and is approved for a court case expungement through the Minnesota Attorney General's Office. However, there is a $300 filing fee for each crime if an individual prepares and submits a Petition for Expungement to the Court directly. Depending on the person's income, an appeal to the court may be made to have this cost waived.

How to Check a Court Case Status in Minnesota

Parties to a dispute and any interested persons may check the status of a court case by contacting the district court administrator's office where the case was held. Individuals may also check a court status by using the Public Access To Case Court System at the Minnesota Judicial Branch website.

How to Find Supreme Court Decisions in Minnesota

The highest court in Minnesota is the Supreme Court. All Supreme Court decisions, formally referred to as opinions, are made public because they establish precedents that Minnesota's lower courts must adhere to when making comparable decisions. Individuals may find supreme court decisions in

• The Appellate Court Clerk's Office: The Minnesota Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals' decision records are maintained by the Office of the Clerk of the Appellate Courts, which also receives all case files.This is located at:

Suite 305 - Minnesota Judicial Center
25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
(651) 291-5297

• The Minnesota State Law Library: The library's print collection provides members of the public with Minnesota Supreme Court decisions. Some of these collections are
  • The Appellate Courts Edition of Minnesota Lawyer. This can be found at the reading lounge in the library.
  • North Western Reporter: This is listed under call number KF135.N7 alongside the other local reporters. Through door C.
  • Minnesota Reporter: Only Minnesota cases are included in this subset of the North Western Reporter, which may be found in the Minnesota Collection under the call number KFM5445.A23.
• Online: The Supreme Court's and the Court of Appeals' decisions have been stored and made searchable online since May 1996. The Minnesota State Law Online Library, and the Minnesota Supreme Court Website provides Supreme Court decisions to members of the public. Individuals may use the information desk outside the reading room where the public computers are located to find supreme court decisions. There is also wireless access.

What Percentage of Court Cases Go to Trial in Minnesota?

To resolve legal disputes, many cases are filed in the district courts of Minnesota. Only a small portion of these cases go to trial. Only around 2% of criminal cases go to trial; roughly 98% of them are settled before the trial date. District courts receive around 1.3 million cases annually.

How Long Does a Court Case Last in Minnesota?

A person must go through numerous stages of the legal process after being accused of a crime. Felony cases can take up to a year to resolve, while misdemeanor trials might go on for several weeks or months. A civil case must be filed with the court within a year of the defendant being served with the summons and complaint (except family cases). Within three years, civil cases should be resolved. However, it may be implausible to anticipate that a matter will be resolved so quickly. It depends on how each party responds, how many cases are pending before the appropriate court, and the specifics of the case. However, following the conclusion of the hearing, judgment must be issued in the courts as quickly as possible, within 15 days, and in no event later than 2 months in the case of the civil side. Interested individuals may look up the Minnesota criminal and civil procedure for specific timeframes in a circuit court.

How to File a Case in Court in Minnesota

In Minnesota, district courts are where most cases start. For administrative reasons, district courts are distributed across 10 judicial districts, one for each of the 87 counties in the state. There are two methods through which a case may be filed in a court in Minnesota

• Through the Electronic File and Serve system: E-filing is the process of submitting court papers through a computerized system. Odyssey File & Serve is the name of the system utilized in the Second and Fourth Judicial Districts (OFS). Attorneys and government organizations must register in order to use the e-Filing system.The Minnesota Judicial Branch typically refers to this technology as eFS (MJB). For all non-criminal case filings as well as subsequent filings in all cases, including criminal and juvenile delinquency cases, lawyers, government organizations, and GALs are required to use eFS. Any file that doesn't begin a criminal or juvenile delinquency case is considered a subsequent filing (e.g., complaints, citations, petitions). Only registered users may access this filing system.
• File in person at a courthouse: Unless required to use the eFile and eServe (eFS) System, court users may still file paper documents and court forms at the courthouse by contacting the Clerk's office. A civil court case begins with the preparation and filling of legal papers and forms (the summons and complaint) and their personal service on the opposing party or their waiver of service. The Summons notifies the opposing party that a lawsuit has been filed and requires them to prepare and serve an Answer to the Complaint. Criminal cases in Minnesota also begin with the filing of legal documentation ("charges") in the relevant district court by a prosecutor.

What Does It Mean if a Court Case Was Resolved Before the Trial Date?

In a criminal case, it denotes that the matter was concluded through a plea agreement, in which the parties consented to admit guilt in exchange for a lesser charge, a specific punishment, a mixture of the two, or both. Plea agreements are used to resolve the vast majority of criminal cases. A judgment by the presiding court that mandates a resolution of the case without a trial may have been made in criminal cases following an evidence hearing or other hearing. For example, the case cannot be pursued due to the suppression of particular evidence, the loss of jurisdiction over the case, the statute of limitations, or double jeopardy.

In civil cases, It indicates that the attorneys engaged in extensive pre-trial negotiation and reached a settlement that resolves the dispute without going to trial. Judges encourage litigants to attempt to reach an agreement resolving their disagreement in order to avoid the expense and inconvenience of having a trial. In order to resolve a dispute without a trial or other judicial proceedings, the courts support the use of mediation, arbitration, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. As a result, parties to disputes frequently accept a "settlement".