Clay County Criminal Records

Clay County criminal records are maintained by the District Court and the Sheriff's Office in Moorhead, the county seat of this western Minnesota border county with roughly 59,000 residents. Moorhead sits directly across the Red River from Fargo, North Dakota, which means Clay County law enforcement handles cases from one of the more active border-region communities in the state. The Clay County Correctional Facility is a 220-bed institution with a dedicated Behavioral Mental Health Unit. This page covers how to search Clay County criminal records through MCRO, the BCA, and local county offices.

Clay County Sheriff's Office

Sheriff Mark Empting leads the Clay County Sheriff's Office at 915 9th Ave N., Moorhead, MN 56560. The main phone is 218-299-5151, fax 218-299-5228. You can email the Sheriff at Mark.empting@co.clay.mn.us. The County Administrator, Stephen Larson, is at the Clay County Courthouse, 807 11th St. N., 3rd Floor, Moorhead, MN 56560, phone 218-299-6002. Office hours run Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. The Sheriff's Office has a dedicated Warrants Division. For warrant inquiries, contact Division Commander Chad Hagen at 218-299-7576 or Chad.hagen@co.clay.mn.us. The warrants division takes custody of people wanted on arrest warrants and also handles civil process matters.

The Clay County Correctional Facility is a large facility at 800 9th St. N., Moorhead, MN 56560. It is a 75,900 square foot building with a 220-bed capacity. The administrator is Julie Savat, phone 218-299-5163, fax 218-229-7696. The facility has 62 employees and houses minimum, medium, and maximum security inmates. It includes an 18-bed Behavioral Mental Health Unit, a feature that sets it apart from many Minnesota county jails. Visitation runs Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 8:30 pm, with 20-minute sessions. Visits require scheduling through an online account system.

The jail roster is organized alphabetically by last name and shows name, booking date, arresting agency, and charges. Under Minn. Stat. § 13.82, Clay County arrest data is public and includes time of arrest, charges, and custody status.

How to Search Clay County Criminal Records

Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO) at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us is the free tool for Clay County court case searches. Enter a name or case number to find district court records. Cases filed after July 1, 2015 are available online. Court-authored documents from July 2005 through June 2015 are also searchable. No account is required for basic name searches. Clay County is part of the 7th Judicial District, which serves several west-central Minnesota counties.

For in-person access or certified copies, visit the Clay County Courthouse at 807 11th St. N., Moorhead, MN 56560. Use mncourts.gov/Find-Courts for current hours and contact information. For warrant checks, contact the Warrants Division directly at 218-299-7576 rather than general dispatch. Certified copies of court records cost more than plain copies and require a direct request to the Court Administrator.

The BCA at bca.dps.mn.gov offers a $8 statewide conviction search covering the past 15 years under Minn. Stat. § 13.87. Clay County convictions within that window will appear. The DOC Offender Locator at coms.doc.state.mn.us/PublicViewer shows people currently in state custody or on state supervision from Clay County cases. MPA Remote at mncourts.gov provides case index data but does not show documents; MCRO is the better option.

Clay County 7th District Court

Clay County is part of the 7th Judicial District. The District Court handles all criminal cases filed in the county, from misdemeanor citations to serious felonies. Being a border county, Clay County courts also see cases involving conduct that crosses into or from North Dakota. Jurisdiction stays on the Minnesota side for crimes committed in Clay County regardless of where defendants live.

MCRO provides free access to public documents and case histories for cases filed after July 2015. The register of actions shows every event in a case. Documents download as PDFs at no charge. No login is required. Restricted case types, including juvenile, domestic abuse, harassment, and sealed matters, are not accessible through MCRO or any remote system. The Court Administrator at the Moorhead courthouse handles requests for restricted records once eligibility is established.

Note: Documents from MCRO are unofficial. They cannot stand in for certified copies in legal proceedings. Contact the Clay County Court Administrator for certified copies.

Criminal Background Check for Clay County

The BCA's Criminal History Search at bca.dps.mn.gov is the main tool for a Minnesota-wide conviction check that includes Clay County. The fee is $8 per name. The BCA is at 1430 Maryland Avenue East, St. Paul, MN 55106, phone 651-793-2400. The search returns felony, gross misdemeanor, and misdemeanor convictions statewide for the 15 years after sentence discharge under Minn. Stat. § 13.87. The BCA operates as the central repository under Minn. Stat. § 299C.46. It covers only Minnesota convictions, not North Dakota or federal records, even for people who live in the Moorhead-Fargo area and may have records on both sides of the border.

What the BCA search does not include: arrests without convictions, juvenile records, federal cases, out-of-state records, and records more than 15 years from sentence discharge. Anything expunged or sealed also stays out of the public results. Subjects can challenge data accuracy under Minn. Stat. § 13.04.

Expungement in Clay County

Clay County residents can seek to seal criminal records through the 7th Judicial District Court in Moorhead. Automatic expungement under Minn. Stat. § 609A.015 covers cases that ended without conviction. The BCA processes those records automatically. For convictions, a petition under Minn. Stat. § 609A.03 requires notifying the Clay County Sheriff's Office, the BCA, and any other agency that holds related records. All agencies can respond or object within 60 days.

If the court grants expungement, the record is sealed from public databases and no longer appears in MCRO or BCA results. Law enforcement and prosecutors still have access. The record is not deleted. Waiting periods before filing depend on offense level. LawHelpMN at lawhelpmn.org provides free guidance for Clay County residents navigating the process without an attorney. Predatory offender registration under Minn. Stat. § 243.166 continues independently of any other expungement order.

Predatory Offender Registry in Clay County

Predatory offenders in Clay County register through the Sheriff's Office under Minn. Stat. § 243.166. They must provide their 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. Those required to register in another state who move to Clay County must register with Minnesota as well.

Community notification levels are governed by Minn. Stat. § 244.052. Level III registrants in Clay County are publicly searchable through the Department of Public Safety at dps.mn.gov. Level II triggers notifications to schools, daycares, and similar facilities nearby. Level I information remains within law enforcement only. Risk levels are assigned by an end-of-confinement review committee before each offender is released from custody. The BCA maintains the statewide predatory offender database.

Cities in Clay County

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

Nearby Counties

These counties share borders with Clay County. Cases near county lines may be filed in one of these neighboring court districts.