Minnesota Criminal Records

Minnesota gives the public two free statewide searches, one of the courts and one of the state criminal history, and then takes cases out of both under a Clean Slate law that seals them automatically. The court system says which of the two is the background check, and it is not the court search. This page gives the Minnesota rule and the Minnesota search for each record, with government sources only.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's Minnesota Public Criminal History search exists because the law requires it: "Public criminal history record search is required by Minnesota Statutes §13.87, Subd. 1(c)." The Bureau's criminal history page explains that "the Minnesota Criminal History System (CHS) contains information on people arrested for felony, gross misdemeanor and some misdemeanor offenses," and the public search returns the convictions in it for fifteen years from discharge, by name and date of birth, free. The court system points to it in its own words on the MCRO search page: "Background checks should be conducted through the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's (BCA) Minnesota Public Criminal History Search (CHS) system." The Bureau's search page adds the other half: "The Clean Slate Act requires automatic expungement (sealing) of certain records from a person's BCA criminal history, eliminating the need to petition the court," and the Adult-Use Cannabis Act "requires automatic expungement of certain cannabis-related records." The full record, including non-conviction data, is for the person's own review and the agencies the law names.

Minnesota Court Records Online "provides online access to many public Minnesota state district court records and documents," and its case search states its scope: "Case records are displayed for all Minnesota district (trial) courts. The information available on MCRO is limited to case, hearing, and monetary judgment search results; case record information; Registers of Actions; monetary judgment details; and documents for publicly accessible district court cases." Every criminal case in the state, felony through petty misdemeanor, is a district court case, and MCRO finds it by name with the register of actions. The court system notes that "each Minnesota district courthouse offers electronic access to statewide public case records through public access terminals," and that some records shown at the terminal are not shown remotely. A background check company's "Minnesota criminal record" is a copy of MCRO or of the Bureau's search on the day it was pulled, and the criminal records page explains what a copy misses.

Minnesota expunges, which in Minnesota means seals, under chapter 609A of the statutes: a case that ended without a conviction, or with a stay of adjudication or diversion, on petition; a petty misdemeanor or misdemeanor conviction two years after the sentence, a gross misdemeanor four years after, and the eligible felonies five years after, with the violent and sex offenses the chapter lists excluded. The Clean Slate Act, effective January 1, 2025, makes the sealing automatic for many of those cases: the Bureau identifies the eligible records, seals them in its own system, and notifies the courts, which seal theirs, with no petition. A sealed Minnesota case leaves the public criminal history search and the public court record, and a copy that left before the sealing is reached through the federal rule on complete and up to date public records.

Minnesota's Data Practices Act answers the arrest question in section 13.82, which classifies law enforcement data item by item. Arrest data, the name and age of the person arrested, the charge, the time and place, the agency and the custody status, is public; the investigative file is confidential while the investigation is active; and the booking photograph has its own subdivision: "'booking photograph' means a photograph or electronically produced image taken by law enforcement for identification purposes in connection with the arrest of a person," and "except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, a booking photograph is public," with the exceptions the subdivision names. Who is in custody is on the county rosters, the Hennepin County Sheriff's jail roster, which "keeps searchable public records on individuals who may have been received by, currently in or released from jail" for "today and for 90 days prior," and the Ramsey County booking reports, "refreshed every 30 minutes," and in the Department of Corrections' offender locator for state prison. The arrest records page covers the rest.

A Minnesota judgment docketed with the court administrator is a lien on the debtor's real property in that county, and under section 548.09 "the judgment survives, and the lien continues, for ten years after its entry," after which it can be renewed only by a new action on the judgment. The court records page covers where MCRO's monetary judgment search finds them.

Minnesota is a single federal judicial district, the District of Minnesota, under 28 U.S.C. 103, in six divisions. Court sits at Winona for Dodge, Fillmore, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Steele, Wabasha and Winona; at Mankato for Blue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Faribault, Freeborn, Jackson, Lac qui Parle, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Rock, Sibley, Waseca, Watonwan and Yellow Medicine; at Saint Paul for Chisago, Dakota, Goodhue, Ramsey, Rice, Scott and Washington; at Minneapolis for Anoka, Carver, Chippewa, Hennepin, Isanti, Kandiyohi, McLeod, Meeker, Renville, Sherburne, Swift and Wright; at Duluth for Aitkin, Benton, Carlton, Cass, Cook, Crow Wing, Itasca, Kanabec, Koochiching, Lake, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine and Saint Louis; and at Fergus Falls and Bemidji for Becker, Beltrami, Big Stone, Clay, Clearwater, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Otter Tail, Pennington, Polk, Pope, Red Lake, Roseau, Stearns, Stevens, Todd, Traverse, Wadena and Wilkin. A federal case from any Minnesota county is on that court's docket and on PACER, whose prices and gaps are on the criminal records page.

Whether a person has a Minnesota conviction: the Bureau's public criminal history search answers it, free, by name and date of birth, fifteen years back, sealed cases left out.

Whether a person was charged in a district court: MCRO answers it, free, statewide, with the register of actions.

Whether a person is in custody now: the county jail roster answers it, and the Department of Corrections for state prison.

Whether an old case can still be found: a sealed case is out of both searches, a judgment lien lasts ten years, and a copy that predates a sealing is reached through the federal rule.