Big Stone County Criminal Records

Big Stone County criminal records are held by the District Court in Ortonville and the Big Stone County Sheriff's Office, which patrols 528 square miles in west-central Minnesota along the South Dakota border. The county is small, with roughly 5,000 residents, and Ortonville serves as both the county seat and main hub for court and law enforcement activity. Criminal records include jail roster data, court case filings, arrest information, and conviction histories. You can search court records online through Minnesota Court Records Online, request a BCA conviction check for $8, or visit the Ortonville courthouse in person. This page explains all three options for Big Stone County criminal records.

Big Stone County Sheriff's Office

Big Stone County Sheriff John Haukos leads the Sheriff's Office at 11 SE 2nd Street, Suite 101, Ortonville, MN 56278. The main phone is 320-839-3558, fax 320-839-5980. Chief Deputy David Hills can be reached at davidh@bsco.us. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm, with extended coverage on Saturday from 1:00 pm to 11:00 pm and Sunday from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm. The jail shares the main phone number at 320-839-3558. The Sheriff's Office covers patrol, warrant service, and jail operations for this small but geographically spread-out county.

The Big Stone County Jail is a medium security adult facility at 20 2nd St. SE, Ortonville, MN 56278, also reachable at 320-839-3558. It is a limited-capacity facility. Visitation runs Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. All visits are non-contact through a glass partition, with a maximum of two visitors per day per inmate. Under Minn. Stat. § 13.82, arrest data from the Sheriff's Office is public and includes charges, custody status, and arrest time and date.

Searching Big Stone County Criminal Records

Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO) at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us is the free starting point for Big Stone County case searches. Enter a name or case number to pull up district court records. You'll see charges, hearing entries, and case status for cases filed after July 1, 2015. Court-authored documents from July 2005 through June 2015 are also searchable. No account is required for a basic search. If the record you need is older, contact the Big Stone County Courthouse directly.

For in-person or certified copy requests, visit the Big Stone County Courthouse at 20 Second Street SE, Suite 107, Ortonville, MN 56278. The Court Administrator is Kim Sundbom-Trudeau, phone 320-839-2536, fax 320-839-2537. Office hours are 8:00 am to 4:00 pm daily. For current court hours, use mncourts.gov/Find-Courts.

The BCA conviction search at bca.dps.mn.gov runs $8 and returns Minnesota-wide conviction data for the past 15 years. Minn. Stat. § 13.87 sets the rules for what's public. Big Stone County convictions will appear in those results if they fall within the window. The DOC Offender Locator at coms.doc.state.mn.us/PublicViewer shows people in state custody or on state supervision.

Big Stone County District Court Records

Big Stone County District Court handles all criminal, civil, and family cases in the county. The courthouse is a small facility serving a small population, so wait times for walk-in record requests tend to be shorter than in larger counties. MCRO is the main tool for remote access to case information. It shows registers of action, party names, charge descriptions, and case outcomes for public criminal and civil cases. Documents download as PDFs at no charge.

The Benton County Court Administrator handles requests for older case files, certified copies, and anything not available through MCRO. Restricted case types, including juvenile, domestic abuse, and sealed matters, are not accessible through MCRO or any online system. For anything in that category, you must establish eligibility before the court will release the documents. Fees for certified copies vary by page count and document type.

Note: MCRO is not the official court record. Documents accessed through MCRO are unofficial and cannot substitute for certified copies in legal proceedings.

Minnesota Conviction History Check

The BCA's Criminal History Search at bca.dps.mn.gov is the best tool for a full Minnesota conviction check that includes Big Stone County records. The search costs $8 and covers felony, gross misdemeanor, and misdemeanor convictions from the past 15 years under Minn. Stat. § 13.87. The BCA central office is at 1430 Maryland Avenue East, St. Paul, MN 55106, phone 651-793-2400. In-person searches are also available at the BCA for $8.

The BCA search does not include arrests without convictions, juvenile records, federal cases, out-of-state records, or anything expunged or sealed. The 15-year window runs from sentence discharge, not from the conviction date. Once 15 years pass from discharge, a conviction drops off the public record. Subjects can request a free inspection of their own public conviction data from the BCA and can contest accuracy under Minn. Stat. § 13.04.

Expungement in Big Stone County

Big Stone County residents can petition to seal criminal records through the District Court in Ortonville. Automatic expungement under Minn. Stat. § 609A.015 applies to cases where there was no conviction. The BCA processes those automatically without a petition. For convictions, the petition process under Minn. Stat. § 609A.03 requires filing with the court and notifying affected agencies, including the Sheriff's Office and the BCA. Each agency can respond or object before a judge rules.

If the court grants expungement, the record is sealed from public view. It remains accessible to law enforcement and prosecutors. It does not disappear from the BCA repository. For Big Stone County residents who want help with the process, LawHelpMN at lawhelpmn.org offers free guidance on expungement eligibility and the petition steps. Predatory offender registration under Minn. Stat. § 243.166 is not affected by expungement of other records.

Predatory Offender Registry

Predatory offenders in Big Stone County register through the Sheriff's Office at 11 SE 2nd Street, Ortonville, under Minn. Stat. § 243.166. Registration requires providing current address, vehicle information, phone numbers, and employment or school location. Annual in-person verification happens during the registrant's birth month. Address changes must be reported within five days. Failure to register is a felony.

Community notification levels are assigned under Minn. Stat. § 244.052. Level III offenders are publicly searchable through the DPS at dps.mn.gov. Level II offenders trigger notification to local schools and facilities serving vulnerable populations. Level I information stays within law enforcement. Risk levels are set by an end-of-confinement review committee before an offender's release from custody.

Cities in Big Stone County

No major cities in Big Stone County meet our population threshold for dedicated pages. Criminal records for all Big Stone County residents are handled through the District Court in Ortonville.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Big Stone County. Cases near county lines may be filed in a neighboring jurisdiction.