North Dakota Government records cover a broad range of genealogy subject areas that can help you as part of your research, such as land ownership, courts, taxes, and naturalization’s. Given that North Dakota court records cover such a wide selection of topics, they could aid you in many different ways. As an example, they could aid you in finding ancestors’ residences, identify occupations, locate financial information, determine citizenship status, or shed light on relationships between individuals. The whole thing relies upon on the type of court records that the ancestors” names show up in. For Definitions of all court terms see the Genealogy Encyclopedia.
North Dakota Courthouse records change extensively from county to county in both level of quality and volume. You will find different kinds of court records that are most likely to possess information related for your genealogical research below.
North Dakota Court Records
Some of the 1861 to 1889 Dakota Territory federal district court records have been placed on microfilm. They are available at the State Archives and Historical Research Library, along with several county court documents. Nevertheless, many district court records are still kept in the offices of each county clerk. Those records include: Juvenile Court Records, Naturalization Records, Coroner’s Juries and Records, Civil Actions, Jury Lists, Justice of the Peace Records, Liquor Applications for Medical Use, Judgment Records, Criminal Proceedings. See Also Research In Court Records.
North Dakota Land Records
Some of the original North Dakota General Land Office (GLO) records are on file at the State Archives and Historical Research Library. Also located there are microfilmed copies of original survey plats and tract books from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Original township plats are available at the North Dakota Water Commission. However, the BLM has copies of plats, tract books, and patents on file as well.
The Office of the Register of Deeds holds the county-level land transfer records. Most North Dakota county offices still hold the land records for their particular counties. See Also Guide to U.S. Land Records Research
- BLM Land Records (glorecords.blm.gov)
- North Dakota Land Record Books (amazon.com)
North Dakota Probate Records
Testamentary and probate matters in North Dakota were originally presided over by the district courts. District court duties included handling the removal and appointment of guardians and administrators. The county judge keeps records of marriage licenses that have been issued in that county by that judge’s office. Those records can be obtained by contacting the clerk of the court in the particular county of interest. The county judge’s office also keeps records of insanity and mental incapacity. See Also Guide to U.S. Probate Records Research
- North Dakota Probate Record Books (amazon.com)
North Dakota Tax Records
North Dakota tax rolls are kept by the county auditors. Some of them go back to when each county was founded, while others go back to when North Dakota became a state. The Historical Research Library and the North Dakota State Archives have some of those records on file. The Chester Fritz Library also has a special collection of some of those records on file. See Also Guide to U.S. Tax Records Research
- North Dakota Tax Record Books (amazon.com)
North Dakota Immigration & Naturalization Records
The district court clerks’ offices used to hold all North Dakota records pertaining to naturalization. However, most of those older records can now be found at the State Archives and Historical Research Library. Almost all state records of naturalization and immigration are included in that collection. They cover the years of 1873 through 1952 and include information on all those who applied to become citizens during that time period. The State Historical Society of North Dakota features an index of the 53 county naturalization records on its website. See Also Guide to U.S. Immigration Records Research
- North Dakota Immigration Project (usgwarchives.net)
- North Dakota Immigration Record Books (amazon.com)
North Dakota County & City Government Links
North Dakota contains 53 counties. Each county is the local level of government within its borders. The links in the table below link to county and city government offices and is limited to government-maintained websites. If you know of a North Dakota county that has an official government web site but is not linked, or if the link is in error, please contact us so we may edit our database. North Dakota State Government is located in Bismarck.