Minnesota, county records
Find the right office in Cottonwood County. Court cases, deeds and parcels, sheriff and jail records, vital records and county filings, each linked to the office that keeps them.
Start here
Every card below goes to the government office responsible for that record. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
County court
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota keeps bankruptcy dockets and claims searchable through PACER, accepts electronic proofs of claim and runs a free bankruptcy advice clinic.
Open official site Minnesota Federal CasesProperty records
The Minnesota Department of Revenue publishes property tax data by year and location, including sales ratios and market values. Parcel records and tax statements come from each Minnesota county.
Open official site Minnesota Property RecordsVital records
Request birth and death certificates, marriage records and divorce filings in Minnesota.
Open official site Minnesota Vital RecordsState records
Find active and inactive corporations by name from the Minnesota Secretary of State.
Open official site Minnesota Business & Corporation SearchState records
Search property and claim status by individual name or business through the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce.
Open official site Minnesota Unclaimed PropertyLocal record guide
County profile
Sheriff & Law Enforcement. Cottonwood County Sheriff's Office is responsible for law enforcement in the unincorporated areas of Cottonwood County.
Police Departments. Cottonwood County is served by Cottonwood County Sheriff's Office and several municipal police departments, including the Windom Police Department and the Mountain Lake Police Department. Each department has jurisdiction over its respective city, while the Sheriff's Office covers the broader county area.
Law Enforcement & Arrests. Cottonwood County Sheriff's Office, located at 902 Fifth Avenue in Windom, Minnesota 56101, is the primary law enforcement agency for Cottonwood County.
Criminal Records. For an authoritative source, see Case Search - Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO) .
Arrest Records. They are maintained by the arresting agency, primarily the County Sheriff's Office and municipal police departments.
Abandoned mine records
Where the workings are, and the office that holds the mine maps.
From the old mine records
The mine records hold 6 mine sites inside the county: 2 past producers, now closed, 1 prospect or occurrence that was never worked, 3 sites producing when the record was made; the old survey maps add 102 holes drawn inside the county, 0 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are construction sand and gravel; Clay.
A point in either file is a location, not a property line: the sheet shows the opening on the surface, not the rooms under it. The record that shows what runs under a parcel is the mine map. The OSMRE National Mine Map Repository holds scanned underground mine maps and answers requests for a named mine or an area. Minnesota has no coal AML program; its underground mines are iron mines on the Mesabi Range.
Minnesota abandoned mine maps ranks every county and town in the state by the workings recorded inside it, names the office that holds the mine maps, and says what to do if the ground moves.
Disclaimer: The mine information here is for general information only. Old mine records can be incomplete, outdated or wrong, and finding nothing here does not mean there is nothing there. Check with the mine map office named here before you rely on it, and have a qualified engineer look at any ground you are worried about. PublicRecordCenter.com assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions, or consequences arising from the use of this information.
Labor Department file
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division closed 5 investigations in Cottonwood County since fiscal 2005 and recorded $25,658 in back wages agreed for 378 workers. The county is the one the Census Bureau puts each employer's ZIP code in. Snapshot of April 22, 2026; a case here is a finding by the Division, not a court judgment.
| Employer | City | Cases | Back wages | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fast Distributing Inc | Mountain Lake | 1 | $12,118 | 43 |
| HyLife Foods Windom, LLC | Windom | 1 | $10,284 | 306 |
| Avera McKennan Hospital & University Hlth Cnt | Windom | 1 | $2,824 | 27 |
| B& T Systems, L.>.C. | Windom | 1 | $432 | 2 |
| PM Beef Holdings LLC | Windom | 1 | $0 | 0 |
Every employer on the Cottonwood County record, by back wages agreed; 2 employers have a page of their own and open from the table, the rest show their whole record in this row. The Minnesota wage theft records page ranks the whole state.
Straight answers
Open only the answer you need.
Booking photos are kept by the agency that made the arrest, such as the Cottonwood County Sheriff's Office or a city police department in Cottonwood County. Ask that agency for its record. Under Minnesota Statutes 13.82, subdivision 26, a booking photograph is public data; a law enforcement agency may withhold it for a time if access would hurt an active investigation.
The Minnesota criminal history record comes from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). Free name search of public criminal history (convictions public for 15 years after the sentence ends) online; for your own full record, send the BCA a notarized personal request form by mail or in person. Fee: Free online public search; $8.00 for a Minnesota only check on yourself, plus $10.00 per card for fingerprinting service.
Search the Minnesota Department of Corrections Public Registrant Search, or every state at once on the National Sex Offender Public Website run by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Register with the county auditor or through the Minnesota Secretary of State. You can also register online with the state online registration. Same day registration: yes, in person at your polling place on Election Day with proof of residence; registration ahead of time closes 20 days before a regularly scheduled election (Minnesota Statutes 201.061).
Deeds and other recorded land documents in Cottonwood County are kept by the Cottonwood County recorder. Property values are set by the county assessor, and tax bills come from the county treasurer. Source: official state page.
Certified birth and death certificates for Minnesota come from the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Vital Records. Any Minnesota county vital records office sells birth and death certificates, and for fastest service MDH points you to a county office, where most of the time you get the order while you wait. In person at a county vital records office, or from MDH by mail to PO Box 64499, St. Paul, MN 55164-0499 or by fax to 866-416-1357 (credit card only) with the application form. Fee: $26 for a birth certificate ($19 for each added copy of the same one); $13 for a death certificate ($6 for each added copy).
Business entity filings are searched with the Minnesota Secretary of State, Business Services. Minnesota DEED says many local governments require licenses for certain kinds of businesses, and in some cases cities and counties require a general business license.
Same county
Use the city page when a record was created by a municipal police department or city office; use the county page for courts, deeds, vital records and jail custody.