Fargo Criminal Court Resource Center
A practical guide to Cass County District Court, Fargo Municipal Court, jail and custody information, records, bail, first appearances, and the criminal-case process.
Start with the court named on your paperwork
Your citation, summons, complaint, bond order, or notice should identify the court and next appearance. State criminal cases in Cass County are generally handled through the East Central Judicial District at the Cass County Courthouse. Fargo Municipal Court separately handles matters within its jurisdiction.
Do not guess which court controls
The court affects where you appear, how you access records, which prosecutor handles the matter, and which procedures apply. Verify the case number and location through the official court or clerk rather than relying on an old address or a third-party directory.
Immediate priorities after an arrest or summons
- Confirm the next court date, location, and whether appearance is in person or remote.
- Read every release, testing, no-contact, and travel condition.
- Preserve favorable video, messages, receipts, location data, and witness information.
- Do not contact an alleged victim or witness when an order prohibits it.
- Identify any driver’s-license or administrative deadline separate from court.
Official resources
- North Dakota Court System: Cass County
- North Dakota Court System: Fargo Municipal Court
- Cass County Corrections
A practical guide to Cass County District Court, Fargo Municipal Court, jail and custody information, records, bail, first appearances, and the criminal-case process.
Cass County criminal defense: court, judges, jail, and case resources
This is a working local resource for people facing a criminal accusation in Cass County—not a generic city page. It identifies the places, offices, public records, and practical decisions that can matter before the first appearance and throughout the case.
Why this county needs its own plan in Cass County
Cass County cases can involve several local, state, campus, transit, or federal agencies within one metro, and the agency name may determine where critical evidence is stored.
Court route
The Cass County Courthouse is the district-court anchor, but the complaint, docket, and notice must still be checked for the correct courtroom and appearance method.
Custody route
The Cass County Jail operates separately from court administration. A roster entry may not reflect every hold, new order, transport decision, or release condition in real time.
Evidence route
Fargo Police, West Fargo Police, the sheriff, Highway Patrol, campus police, and federal partners can each create a distinct dispatch, video, property, or digital record trail.
Courthouse, sheriff, and jail
Addresses, hours, officeholders, and procedures can change. Use the linked government page before traveling or sending documents. A law-office guide cannot change a hearing notice, release order, or agency rule.
Cass County Courthouse
211 Ninth Street South, Fargo, ND 58103
701-451-6900; jury line 701-451-6901
Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Clerk of District Court Brittany Leadbetter
Cass County Sheriff’s Office
1612 23rd Avenue North, Fargo, ND 58102
701-241-5800
Cass County Jail
450 34th Street South, Fargo, ND 58103
701-271-2900
Officials identified on the current court location page: Sheriff Jesse Jahner; State’s Attorney Kimberlee J. Hegvik; Magistrate Daniel Gast.
Go deeper without repeating statewide law
Each subguide answers a different local problem. The statewide offense pages remain the source for elements and penalties; these county guides focus on navigating Cass County institutions and records.
02Sheriff, jail, booking, bail, and releaseFacility locations, custody search, bond questions, property, calls, visits, and release conditions.
03Prosecution, defense counsel, and supervisionWho does what, how counsel is obtained, and why probation or pretrial instructions are separate from court dates.
East Central Judicial District roster
The judge assigned to a case is shown by the docket or hearing notice; the district roster is not a prediction of assignment. Senior judges, referees, magistrates, and assignments may change.
- Scott O. Diamond
- Ryan Younggren
- Stephanie Hayden
- Constance L. Cleveland
- Nicholas W. Chase
- Reid A. Brady
- Tristan J. Van de Streek
- Cherie L. Clark
- Wade L. Webb
- Stephannie N. Stiel
- Thomas R. Olson
- Presiding Judge Steven E. McCullough
- Steven L. Marquart
Confirm the live roster: East Central Judicial District judges and judicial officers.
A Cass County preparation checklist
- Match every document to the same file. Compare the court file number, county, charge, statute, hearing time, courtroom or remote link, and release conditions.
- Check custody status from the official jail source. A roster is informational. Bail, holds, transport, and release timing should be confirmed with the facility or court.
- Preserve evidence outside the police file. Save complete message threads, original media, location records, receipts, witness information, medical records, and a private chronology.
- Do not treat an agency employee as defense counsel. Clerks, jail staff, prosecutors, probation officers, and police have different roles and cannot provide confidential defense advice.
- Identify the consequence that cannot wait. That may be custody, a license deadline, no-contact order, work or military issue, immigration, professional licensing, travel, or evidence that will be overwritten.
Choose the charge category
Cass County procedure is local, but the elements and penalties come from North Dakota law. These pages separate the levels and statutory paths instead of repeating a thin summary on every county page.
Frequently requested defense guides
- DUI and actual-physical-control defenseElements, offense levels, penalties, evidence, and charge-specific defense issues under North Dakota law.
- Assault and domestic-violence defenseElements, offense levels, penalties, evidence, and charge-specific defense issues under North Dakota law.
- Drug-charge defenseElements, offense levels, penalties, evidence, and charge-specific defense issues under North Dakota law.
- Theft, burglary, and robbery defenseElements, offense levels, penalties, evidence, and charge-specific defense issues under North Dakota law.
- Sex-offense defenseElements, offense levels, penalties, evidence, and charge-specific defense issues under North Dakota law.
- Homicide defenseElements, offense levels, penalties, evidence, and charge-specific defense issues under North Dakota law.
Find the court file, calendar, and current instructions
Case records: North Dakota public court-record search
Court calendars: North Dakota court calendars
County court page: Cass County court information
County departments: Cass County official website
Public defense: North Dakota public-defense information
Online records may omit protected material, may lag behind a courtroom ruling, and do not replace a filed notice or direct instruction from the court. If two sources conflict, contact the court or counsel promptly.
Do not let the agency name replace the evidence review
A Cass County case may begin with a city police department, the county sheriff, highway patrol, campus or transit police, a state investigative bureau, or a federal task force. Agency identity does not decide admissibility or accuracy. The defense still needs the complete reports, recordings, dispatch, warrant materials, property records, laboratory files, digital extractions, and chain-of-custody information that fit the facts.
For an incident reported in Fargo, West Fargo, Casselton, Kindred, Horace, Mapleton, and nearby communities, identify every responding agency and every place evidence traveled. A sheriff’s jail record, a city officer’s body-camera file, a state laboratory report, and a district-court filing may be kept by different custodians. One broad request may not reach them all.
Local records to identify early
- 911 audio, dispatch chronology, and computer-aided dispatch notes.
- Body-camera, squad, interview-room, courthouse, jail, and nearby private video.
- Warrant applications, returns, inventories, property receipts, and forensic download reports.
- Booking, medical-screening, test, transport, and release records where legally relevant.
- Complete court orders and later amendments, not just a docket label.
Use the county page and offense page together
This hub answers where the case is handled and which local source is authoritative. It intentionally does not rewrite the same assault, DWI, drug, theft, or sex-offense law twenty times. Follow the correct charge guide for statutory elements, degrees, maximum penalties, mandatory terms, and defense issues; return here for Cass County court, custody, and agency logistics.
That division makes the site more useful and more accurate. A change to North Dakota criminal law can be reviewed in one offense guide, while a change to Cass County Jail procedures can be reviewed here and in the custody subguide. It also avoids pretending that a statewide statute means something different merely because the case was filed in Cass County.
How local procedure connects to your defense
A Cass County Criminal Defense Resources page should do more than list an address. Your defense should connect the correct courthouse and calendar with the charged statute, the investigating agency, custody or release status, available records, and the evidence that needs to be preserved. The county changes the logistics and the people involved; North Dakota law still controls the elements and penalties.
You can use the official links and contacts on this page to verify the current location, hearing information, judicial assignment, custody information, and records route. Then You can use the charge-specific guide to analyze what the prosecution must prove. Keeping those two jobs separate prevents a local directory from repeating statewide law and prevents a statewide offense guide from pretending that every courthouse works the same way.
What to have ready when we talk
For Cass County Criminal Defense Resources, have the complaint or citation, case number, next court date, release paperwork, the investigating agency, custody status if applicable, and a short private chronology. Tell your lawyer which practical problem is most urgent. Your lawyer can then separate the local logistical question from the legal issue and explain what should happen next.
Cass County criminal-case questions
Which courthouse should You can use?
Use the precise address and appearance method on the filed notice. Fargo-area investigations may involve Fargo Police, West Fargo Police, the Cass County Sheriff, Highway Patrol, campus police, or federal agents. The complaint and court caption identify the actual prosecuting authority and forum.
Is the judge list a promise about who will hear my case?
No. It is a source-dated district roster. Assignments, rotations, recusals, senior-judge service, and calendar coverage can change. The docket and hearing notice control.
Can You can call the prosecutor or clerk for defense advice?
No. Those offices can explain limited administrative procedures, but they do not represent the accused and cannot provide confidential defense strategy.
Where do You should check whether someone is in custody?
Start with the official Cass County Jail source linked above. Confirm time-sensitive bail, hold, transport, or release information directly with the appropriate facility or court.