Search Rice County District Court

Rice County District Court Overview

Rice County District Court is located in the Rice County Courthouse at 218 Third St. NW, Faribault, MN 55021. The Minnesota Judicial Branch lists the main court phone as 507-497-7134, fax as 507-332-6199, business hours as 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Lisa Kuhlman as Court Administrator. The courthouse is the county's District Court location for civil, family, probate, juvenile, criminal, and traffic cases.

Rice County Court Administration processes and calendars Civil, Family/Probate, Criminal/Traffic, Juvenile, and Conciliation cases. It manages records and files, provides public and judicial services, collects and disburses fines, fees, and restitution, and safeguards court-ordered trusts. For certified copies, court file questions, public terminal access, remote hearing Zoom information, and older records not available online, Court Administration is the local office to contact.

The official Rice County courthouse history page documents the building and the court record preservation story.

That history source helps explain why the courthouse itself is part of the court-record story in Rice County.

Rice County District Court Contacts

Rice County does not have a set of numbered trial courts like some states. The State Court Structure Map identifies one general-jurisdiction District Court for ordinary county trial matters, with Court Administration managing local files and calendars. The table uses the required court-list format but reflects Minnesota's actual structure: one District Court location in Faribault rather than separate county, justice, or municipal trial courts.

Public parking is available in the west-side courthouse lot and on the street. Visitors enter through the west side and pass security screening. People needing elevator access are directed to the west public lot, and remote-hearing users can call Court Administration or go to the first floor for Zoom information and courthouse Zoom rooms.

Rice County Court Hierarchy

Rice County is part of Minnesota's Third Judicial District. The Third Judicial District includes Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, and Winona counties. District administration does not hear cases. Proceedings are held in county district courts, so Rice County cases are heard in Faribault unless transferred or handled through a higher appellate or federal system.

The Minnesota Constitution is the structural source for the state judicial branch.

The constitutional source places Rice County District Court within the statewide judiciary rather than under a county-created court system.

The Minnesota judicial district statute places Rice County in the Third Judicial District.

That statutory district assignment explains why Rice County shares regional judicial administration with ten other southeast Minnesota counties.

District Court vs Lower Courts

Minnesota's structure is simpler for Rice County search work than states with county courts, justice courts, or municipal courts. Ordinary Rice County trial-court case files are filed in District Court. The research map states that no separate county court, justice court, or municipal court was located for Rice County court records. Appeals and federal cases are separate systems, so they should not be confused with a local District Court file.

Rice County Case Flow

Most local court records begin when a case is filed in Rice County District Court. Civil cases may start with a complaint, petition, or conciliation filing. Criminal cases begin after charging decisions and move through hearings, pleas, motions, trial, disposition, and sentencing. Family cases include divorce, custody, parenting time, paternity, and child support. Probate files begin with an application or petition when court authority is needed for an estate, trust, guardianship, or conservatorship.

Local flow: Filing or charge › Rice County District Court case › hearings and orders › judgment, disposition, decree, or sentence › certified copy through Court Administration › appeal to the Minnesota Court of Appeals when allowed.

The daily court calendar is posted around 7 p.m. for next-day activity and updated hourly starting around 7 a.m., but it does not show every matter. Official calendar examples observed in Rice County include Courtroom 1, Courtroom 2, and Courtroom 3, with hearing types such as arraignment, first appearance, plea hearing, pre-trial, settlement conference, probate hearing, account hearing, and probation violation hearing.

Rice County Case Divisions

Rice County District Court has original jurisdiction over civil, family, probate, juvenile, criminal, and traffic cases. Civil records can include lawsuits, conciliation claims, evictions, judgments, name changes, and judgment enforcement. Family records include divorce, custody, parenting time, paternity, and child support. Probate records include estates, wills, trusts, guardianships, and conservatorships. Criminal records include complaints, charges, hearings, pleas, motions, orders, disposition, sentence, warrants, fines, fees, and restitution.

Traffic matters are also District Court cases in Rice County, with payment handled through statewide Minnesota court payment channels when eligible. Juvenile and mental health records have stronger access restrictions than ordinary civil files. Marriage records are not District Court records. They are held by the Rice County Recorder if the marriage license application was made in Rice County. That is why Court Administration is the right office for case records, while the Recorder is the right office for certified Rice County marriage records.

Rice County District Court Appeals

A District Court order or judgment from Rice County generally goes to the Minnesota Court of Appeals unless an exception routes it elsewhere. The Minnesota Supreme Court is the state's final appellate authority and handles selected direct matters and further review. Appeals do not create a new Rice County trial file, but the District Court record is often the source record used for appellate review.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals jurisdiction statute describes the intermediate appellate court's jurisdiction over many appeals from trial courts, agencies, and local governments.

This appellate source helps separate local District Court case lookup from appeal-level research after a judgment or order is challenged.

Rice County Specialty Courts

Rice County Treatment Court is the established local problem-solving court documented in county sources. It serves non-violent offenders with a substance use disorder diagnosis and coordinates a judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, law enforcement, probation, social services, and treatment providers. The program opened July 3, 2014, and is led by Third District Court judges Jeffrey M. Johnson and Karie M. Anderson. Its length is 18 months to two years depending on participant progress.

Rice County also announced a Mental Health Court initiative on June 22, 2026. The county stated that the program was scheduled to launch the following month and would be Minnesota's sixth Mental Health Court. The planned structure is similar to Drug Treatment Court, with a District Court judge and professional team, intensive supervision, treatment, curfews, and regular group court sessions. Eligibility described in the release includes being over 18, a Rice County resident, diagnosed with serious and persistent mental illness under state statute, and having criminal behavior tied to mental illness.

Rice County Court History

Rice County's courthouse history is more detailed than a generic building note. Court was held in varied locations until the first formal courthouse was built in 1874. That courthouse was designed by C.N. Daniels and supported by a $50,000 bond issue. Fire-proof wings were added in 1924, and those wings saved court records when the original building burned in 1931. After the fire, the Brunswick Hotel served as the courthouse until the current courthouse was completed in 1934.

The current courthouse was designed by Nairne W. Fisher, built by Maurice Schmacher, and cost about $200,000. Official history describes it as 134 by 98 feet, built of Faribault stone, with Moderne and Classical lines, Art Deco interior details, a terrazzo map of Rice County, and a top-floor courtroom with walnut walls and furnishings. The same source notes that the Younger brothers were tried in Rice County in 1876 after the Northfield Bank robbery.

Note: The 1931 fire is a rare source-backed reminder that record preservation is part of Rice County court history.

Federal Courts Near Rice County

Federal cases are not Rice County District Court cases. Rice County is in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, which serves all 87 Minnesota counties and has staffed divisional offices in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Fergus Falls. Federal filings may involve federal crimes, federal-question lawsuits, diversity cases, prisoner litigation, Social Security appeals, habeas matters, and other federal jurisdiction. Federal records are searched through PACER, CM/ECF, and federal court-specific tools rather than MCRO.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota is the federal district court source for Minnesota.

This federal source matters when a Rice County resident is dealing with a federal case instead of a state District Court case.

The District of Minnesota also publishes case information and ECF help desk details for federal electronic filing and case access.

The case information page is a separate federal access path and should not be used for ordinary Rice County District Court records.

Visit Rice County District Court

The courthouse is in downtown Faribault near the Rice County Government Services Building at 320 Third St. NW and the Public Safety Center at 50 East View Drive. This office split matters because court files, marriage records, sheriff reports, jail custody, and warrant custody are not all requested at the same counter. Court records and certified court copies go to Court Administration. Marriage and vital records go to the Recorder. Sheriff and jail records go to the Public Safety Center or the jail-related channel documented by the county.

Visitors should use the west side entrance and expect security screening. Jury check-in is on the ground floor. Public parking is available in the west lot and on nearby streets. Court staff can provide Zoom information for remote hearings, and Zoom rooms are available at the courthouse for public use. The courthouse's local access details are practical search facts because a file may be public but unavailable online, and some records questions still require a courthouse terminal or counter request.