Stearns County District Court is one of ten courts in Minnesota's 7th Judicial District. Stearns is one of the larger courts in the state, serving an area of about 1,400 square miles and a population of about 130,000. The court is housed in two buildings in downtown St. Cloud. The Stearns County Law Library is also housed in the historic courthouse.
In the past few years the court's caseload has grown to about 40,000 annual filings (including traffic tickets). Nine judges are "chambered" or home-based in Stearns County. Hearings and conferences are also held at the Stearns County Courthouse for the Minnesota Court of Appeals, worker's compensation, tax court child support, and a number of other agencies. It is not unusual to have all nine courtrooms in frequent use here in St. Cloud.
State Management
Minnesota has a State-funded and -administered trial court system. All ten counties became state funded as of 2005. Because Stearns County's court is now State-funded, the court follows state holidays, which do not always match county holidays.
Court Structure
Although we still identify courts by county and use county boundaries, Minnesota has a cleanly unified trial court system, without the divisions or layers found in many other states. For example, we have no municipal or local courts, and judges are all "general jurisdiction" and could theoretically, for example, handle a traffic ticket in the morning and a murder trial in the afternoon. Minnesota's District Courts handle civil, criminal, conciliation (small claims), probate, juvenile, traffic, family, child support, and child protection cases.