Search Murray County Court Records
Murray County court records are searched through Minnesota Court Records Online Case Search, often shortened to MCRO. Murray County does not publish a separate county-built case portal. MCRO is the statewide route for public Minnesota District Court files, and it has separate paths for case search, document search, hearing search, and judgment search. The system is free for public documents available online, does not currently require registration, and works in modern mobile browsers.
Start with the most exact fact you have. A case number is best, especially for pending criminal, traffic, or petty misdemeanor cases that may not show by defendant-name search before conviction. Name searches can use exact names, date of birth filters, filing dates, case category filters, active or inactive status, and a county filter for Murray. Online records are not certified. Certified copies, exemplified copies, older files, sealed-file requests, and records not available remotely go through Murray County Court Administration.
- Open MCRO Case Search and choose Name, Case Number, Citation Number, or Attorney.
- Use the county filter and select Murray when the search should exclude other Minnesota counties.
- Review the case details, Register of Actions, hearings, dispositions, and public documents that are available online.
- Use Document Search if the case number is known and a public PDF is needed.
- Contact Murray County Court Administration for a certified copy, off-site file, or restricted-access request.
The Murray County official homepage gives countywide service context for Slayton offices and local contacts.
The county site is useful for office-level contacts, while the actual District Court case lookup remains in MCRO and court administration channels.
Murray County District Court System
Murray County is in the Fifth Judicial District of Minnesota. District Court is the trial court of general jurisdiction, which means it handles civil, family, probate, juvenile, criminal, traffic, and conciliation matters filed in the county. The Fifth Judicial District office oversees district courts in fifteen southwest Minnesota counties, but it is not the place to ask about a specific Murray County case. Case questions go to Murray County District Court or Court Administration in Slayton.
Minnesota has three main state court levels: District Court, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and the Minnesota Supreme Court. A trial-level judgment or order from Murray County District Court usually moves to the Court of Appeals if it is appealed. The Supreme Court may review selected cases and also sets statewide rules. No separate Murray County justice court, county court, municipal court, or probate court was located in official sources for court-record filing.
Case flow: Murray County District Court › Minnesota Court of Appeals › Minnesota Supreme Court.
| Court or Office | Role | Case Types |
|---|---|---|
| Murray County District Court | Trial court for local filings | Civil, family, probate, juvenile, criminal, traffic, conciliation |
| Court Administration | Operational clerk and record office | Files, calendars, copies, fines, fees, restitution |
| Fifth Judicial District | Administrative district | Oversight of district courts, not county case lookup |
| Minnesota Court of Appeals | Intermediate appellate court | Appeals from District Court orders and judgments |
Murray County Courthouse Contacts
Murray County has several public-service addresses that are easy to mix up. The main courthouse and government-center address used by the Minnesota Judicial Branch is 2500 28th Street in Slayton. The county Court Administration mailing and office block is listed as Murray County Courts Building, PO Box 57, 2848 Broadway Avenue. The Sheriff's Office and Law Enforcement address is also in the courts building area at 2558 29th Street. Use the office-specific address for mail, in-person visits, and data requests.
The Murray County District Court page lists courthouse hours, parking, calendar links, ADA and language access links, remote-hearing information, and the local court administrator.
The District Court page is the best official starting point for court-day logistics, while county office pages hold additional local contact details.
Murray County Courthouse
2500 28th Street
Slayton, MN 56172
(507) 873-7001
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Murray County Court Administration
PO Box 57, 2848 Broadway Avenue
Slayton, MN 56172
507-831-7008
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Murray County Sheriff's Office
PO Box 57, 2558 29th Street
Slayton, MN 56172
507-836-6168
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; emergencies 911
Murray County Court Record Types
Murray County District Court files several record types under one trial-court structure. Civil records include complaints, answers, motions, affidavits, orders, judgments, settlements, and satisfaction of judgment. Family records include divorce, custody, parentage, parenting time, adoption, and orders for protection. Probate records cover estates, wills, guardianships, conservatorships, trusts, and some mental-health matters. Criminal and traffic cases include complaints, citations, appearances, pleas, dispositions, sentencing orders, probation terms, restitution, fines, and fees.
Marriage records are different. Marriage licenses and certificate copies are handled by the Murray County Auditor/Treasurer as vital records, not by Court Administration. Divorce decrees are court records and stay with District Court. Sheriff records, jail custody records, body-worn camera data, and booking data use law-enforcement data-practices channels rather than MCRO.
- Criminal records: filed in District Court after prosecutor action or citation filing.
- Civil records: lawsuits, judgments, conciliation matters, and related orders.
- Family records: divorce, custody, parentage, adoption, and protective-order matters, with remote-access limits.
- Probate records: estate, trust, guardianship, conservatorship, and will-safekeeping records.
- Traffic records: citation cases, payable tickets, required appearances, and DWI matters that may also be criminal cases.
What Murray County Court Records Show
A Murray County court record may show the case number, public party names, case category, filing date, court events, hearing history, document index, orders, judgments, disposition, sentence, and financial obligations. The public daily calendar has a narrower view. It shows party name, hearing location, hearing date and time, judicial officer, hearing type, connection type, and case number, but it does not show addresses, dates of birth, full charge detail, or document links.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case Number | Minnesota case identifier, such as CR for criminal, FA for family, PR for probate, JV for juvenile, or VB for traffic/violation rows. |
| Party Name | Public party name when remote access rules allow display; some names may appear as not available online. |
| Hearing Type | Status conference, initial appearance, plea hearing, pre-trial, commitment hearing, or another listed hearing event. |
| Register of Actions | Chronological case events, filings, public documents, hearings, dispositions, and sometimes judgment details. |
| Financial Fields | Fines, fees, restitution, copy charges, civil judgments, or court-ordered trust information where public. |
| Disposition | Outcome of a charge, claim, motion, judgment, plea, dismissal, sentence, or other court action. |
Murray County Court Dockets
Murray County hearing access comes from MCRO Hearing Search and the public daily District Court calendar. The daily calendar is posted in searchable PDF format at 7:00 a.m. each business day and updated hourly, but printed courthouse calendars are the most current source for the day. Confidential cases and matters not remotely accessible may be omitted, so an absent online listing does not prove a hearing was canceled.
Calendar rows observed for Murray County included judicial officers Stephen J. Ferrazzano, II and Michelle A. Dietrich, with hearing types such as status conference, commitment hearing, admit/deny hearing, pre-trial, scheduling conference, initial appearance under Rule 8, and plea hearing. Roles can appear as Attorney, Respondent, Petitioner, or Defendant.
The Murray County Court Administration page describes local records management, case categories, calendar work, fines, fees, restitution, and court-ordered trusts.
Court Administration is the local office to call when a calendar entry is unclear, a certified docket copy is needed, or an older record is not available through MCRO.
Murray County Court Access Rules
Minnesota court access is governed by court rules first. Rule 4 of the Minnesota Rules of Public Access defines public and nonpublic case records in the Judicial Branch. Rule 8, listed in the Rules of Public Access table of contents, addresses inspection, copying, bulk distribution, and remote-access limits. Those rules explain why MCRO shows less than a courthouse terminal or a staff-assisted court record request may reveal to an authorized person.
Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13, the Government Data Practices Act, applies to executive and local government data, including many county and sheriff records, but court case records use Judicial Branch access rules. That split matters in Murray County. Court files go through MCRO or Court Administration. Sheriff data, body-camera data, booking data, and law-enforcement reports go through the Sheriff's Office public-data process.
Key statutes and rules:
Minnesota Rules of Public Access, Rule 4 defines court case record access.
Minn. Stat. 609A.02 lists criminal expungement eligibility categories.
Minn. Stat. 260B.171 governs juvenile court record access limits.
Minn. Stat. Chapter 517 covers Minnesota marriage licensing and records.
Restricted Murray County Court Records
Not every court record can be viewed online. Juvenile CHIPS and juvenile delinquency felony 16 case types are not available through MCRO remote access. Adoption records, some domestic abuse and harassment restraining order data, sealed or expunged records, and many mental-health or civil commitment documents have special limits. MCRO also excludes party street addresses and most comment fields from remote display.
Expungement in Minnesota seals records from public access. It does not destroy them. A person may need to identify whether the case falls under automatic expungement, cannabis-related sealing, prosecutor or BCA automatic review, or petition-based sealing. Petition-based expungement is usually filed in the court where the case occurred and may require a filing fee unless waived. Sealed-record access for nonparties often requires a request-for-access form and court approval.
Note: Online absence is not proof that no record exists; sealed, older, pending, and restricted cases may require court staff review.
Murray County Specialty Court
The official county-specific treatment-court listing identifies the Minnesota Cornerstone Drug Court: Pipestone-Murray Adult Drug Court. It is a problem-solving court calendar within the District Court structure, not a separate records portal. The listed coordinator is Heather Kirchner at 2500 28th Street, Slayton, MN 56172, phone (507) 295-1019. Eligibility, screening, supervision, incentives, sanctions, and completion status depend on the treatment-court team and court orders.
Treatment-court participation can affect a criminal case record because it may shape probation terms, compliance hearings, sanctions, incentives, and final disposition. No official Murray-only Veterans Court, Mental Health Court, Family Dependency Treatment Court, or DWI Court was located. Case users should read the criminal Register of Actions and sentencing orders rather than assume treatment-court status from a charge label alone.
Murray County Sheriff and Jail
The Murray County Sheriff's Office is led by Sheriff Heath Landsman. The office is at the Murray County Courts Building, PO Box 57, 2558 29th Street, Slayton, MN 56172, phone 507-836-6168, fax 507-836-8704. Business hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; emergencies use 911. The sheriff page links data-practices notices and request forms for law-enforcement data.
Murray County partners with Lyon County to house inmates. That means a Murray County arrestee may appear on the Lyon County Jail in-custody list with an arresting agency such as Murray County or Slayton Police Department. The official roster page says the list updates automatically every 12 hours. There is no Murray County app-only inmate or warrant lookup documented in the research; use the web roster, sheriff phone, MCRO hearings, Minnesota DOC tools, and custody notification options.
Murray County Marriage Divorce Probate
Marriage licenses and marriage certificate copies are handled by the Murray County Auditor/Treasurer's Vital Records office at the Murray County Government Center. Both parties must appear in person for a license unless the non-appearing party process is used. A Minnesota marriage license is valid only in Minnesota, must be used within six months, requires valid identification, and has no blood-test requirement. Copies of Murray marriage records are requested from the county where the license application was made, or located through the Minnesota Official Marriage System before ordering.
Divorce records are different. Dissolution files, decrees, custody orders, support orders, and related family case records are District Court records. Search MCRO with a Murray County location filter and Family category, then request certified decrees from Court Administration. Probate matters are also filed in District Court, under the Probate Division of District Court, and include estates, wills, guardianships, conservatorships, trusts, will safekeeping, and certain mental-health category cases.
- Testator
- A person who made a will.
- Executor
- A person named to carry out a will, often called a personal representative in probate practice.
- Conservator
- A court-appointed person who manages financial affairs for a protected person.
- Guardian
- A court-appointed person who handles personal decisions for a minor or incapacitated adult.
Murray County Court Record Fees
Court Administration uses the Minnesota District Court fee schedule for copies, filings, certifications, and probate filings. Many public MCRO documents can be downloaded without charge, but an online document is not a certified copy. Certified records must come from court administration. The fee schedule also helps separate court-copy fees from vital-record fees, sheriff data fees, and federal PACER charges.
| Item | Amount | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Uncertified civil/criminal instrument copy | $0.00 | Plain court copy when available under schedule. |
| Certified civil/criminal instrument copy | $14.00 | Official court copy for legal use. |
| Exemplified and certified copy | $28.00 | Formal copy often used outside Minnesota. |
| Civil first paper filed | $310.00 | Base District Court civil filing. |
| Conciliation first paper filed | $65.00 | Small-claims style filing. |
| Divorce or dissolution | $390.00 | District Court family filing. |
| Probate first paper filed | $310.00 | Estate, trust, guardianship, or conservatorship filing. |
| Deposit of will for safekeeping | $27.00 | Probate-related court safekeeping fee. |
Murray County Case Search Fields
MCRO has more filters than a simple name search. For Murray County records, the county filter is useful when a party name is common or when a case may have been filed in another southwest Minnesota county. Wildcards can be used after at least two characters, and Sounds Like may help when the spelling is uncertain, but Sounds Like cannot be combined with wildcards.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search tab | Tab | Yes | Name, Case Number, Citation Number, or Attorney. |
| Last Name / First Name | Text | Yes for person search | Exact name or wildcard after two characters. |
| Date of Birth | Date | No | Exact date or date range can narrow common names. |
| Date Filed | Date | No | Exact date or date range. |
| Case Category | Checkbox group | No | Civil, Criminal, Family, Probate or Mental Health. |
| Case Status | Dropdown | No | All, Active, or Inactive. |
| County List | Checkbox list | No | Select Murray after choosing County location. |
| Citation Number | Text | Yes for citation tab | Use the exact ticket or citation number. |
Interpret Murray County Court Records
Several terms in Murray County records have narrow meanings. A charge is an allegation filed by citation, complaint, information, or prosecutor action. A conviction is a final finding or plea resulting in guilt. A dismissal can be with prejudice, which bars refiling, or without prejudice, which may allow a new filing. A disposition is the outcome of a charge, claim, or case event. The Register of Actions is the event list, not the full evidence file.
Calendar case numbers also carry clues. CR marks criminal cases, FA marks family cases, PR marks probate or mental-health category rows, JV marks juvenile matters, and VB can appear in traffic or violation-bureau rows. Juvenile and mental-health labels should be read with care because the public calendar may show a hearing without showing the file. For criminal records, read charge history, plea, amended charge, dismissal, sentence, and restitution together before drawing conclusions.
Murray County Court History
Murray County was established in 1857 and organized in 1872. The first courthouse was in Currie, the early county seat, where the county bought a frame building for $73. A later courthouse cost $1,155. Slayton sought the county seat, and in 1887 records were moved there after an election that the Minnesota Supreme Court later disallowed. The records stayed in Slayton, and the county-seat change became official in 1889.
The old 1892 courthouse was designed by Frank Thayer of Mankato, built of yellow brick veneer and buff Kasota limestone trim, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Murray County replaced it in 1981 with a steel, concrete, and brick veneer court and government complex. The Minnesota Judicial Branch courthouse history page documents the old courthouse and replacement.
The history matters for records because it explains why older local records may trace through changing courthouse locations, county-seat disputes, and modern court-administration storage.
The Murray County history page also connects Frank Thayer to the Dinehart-Holt House and local museum work.
That local history gives courthouse visitors useful context for Slayton's role as the long-term seat of court records and county services.
Murray County Court Records FAQ
Is MCRO the official certified Murray County court record? MCRO is the official statewide public access portal for online viewing, but downloaded records are not certified. Certified and exemplified copies come from Murray County Court Administration.
Why is a Murray County criminal case missing by name? Pending criminal, traffic, and petty misdemeanor cases without conviction may not appear in defendant-name searches. Use the case number if known, or contact Court Administration.
Where are Murray County inmates listed? Murray County partners with Lyon County for inmate housing. Check the Lyon County roster, then use Murray sheriff, Lyon jail, DOC, or federal BOP channels depending on custody type.
Who handles Murray County marriage certificates? The Auditor/Treasurer handles marriage licenses and copies. Divorce decrees are District Court records, not vital records.
Can sealed records be viewed online? Sealed, expunged, juvenile, adoption, domestic abuse, and some mental-health records are not public online. Access may require party status, attorney status, a special request, or a court order.
Where do traffic ticket payments go? Traffic-ticket questions and payments go to the Minnesota Court Payment Center or official court payment website, with Court Administration handling court-appearance and certified-copy questions.