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North Dakota County
Cavalier County, North Dakota
Langdon and northeast North Dakota Manitoba border farming - from Langdon's position as the governmental hub of one of North Dakota's more remote northeastern counties to Cavalier County's productive border agricultural landscape (the county's flat to gently rolling glacial terrain near the Manitoba border supports wheat, canola, sunflower, and barley production that reflects the Canadian Prairie agricultural influence just across the international line - the county's farming traditions blend northern Great Plains dryland techniques with the crop diversity encouraged by proximity to Canadian agricultural markets).
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What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Sheriff: Cavalier County Sheriff’s Office – 901 3rd St, Langdon, ND 58249 | (701) 256-2555 | Sheriff Matt Wright.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-281 and ND-5 serve Langdon, the county seat and largest city, in far northeastern North Dakota near the Canadian border with Manitoba.
Notes: Cavalier County, organized 1884, is named for fur trapper and explorer Charles Cavalier. IMPORTANT NAMING TRAP: the city of Cavalier, ND is NOT in Cavalier County – it’s the county seat of neighboring Pembina County. Don’t confuse the two when researching.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Cavalier County Auditor – 901 3rd St, Langdon, ND 58249; confirm current phone via cavaliercounty.us.
Notes: Cavalier County is genuinely home to Remote Sprint Launcher 3 (RSL-3), part of the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex – the only operational anti-ballistic missile system the United States ever deployed, built to defend Minuteman ICBM silos near Grand Forks AFB during the Cold War. RSL-3, located west of Cavalier (in the area near Langdon), is genuinely NRHP-listed and offers public tours of its Nike Sprint missile launch facility and nuclear-hardened bunker. The Cavalier County Museum, an open-air museum in the ghost village of Dresden (founded 1897), preserves several historic buildings including a 1937 fieldstone church, a one-room schoolhouse, and a vintage railroad caboose.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Cavalier County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via cavaliercounty.us or veterans.nd.gov.
Federal: Fargo VA Medical Center (long distance, eastern ND).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Langdon: Cavalier County Library – 600 5th Ave, Langdon, ND 58249 | (701) 256-5353 | Fax: (701) 256-5361 | [email protected] | Hours: Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri 10 AM-5 PM, Wed 10 AM-7 PM; runs a summer reading program with over 200 K-12 participants.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: RSL-3 Missile Site Tours, the Cavalier County Museum in Dresden, and Frost Fire Park (a real ski/bike destination roughly 30 minutes away) are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine Cold War Safeguard missile defense heritage – the only operational U.S. anti-ballistic missile system ever deployed – is one of the most historically significant facts covered anywhere in this project.
No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed in this search – animal-related concerns likely route through the Sheriff’s Office. Confirm directly via cavaliercounty.us.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Cavalier County Health District – confirm current contact via cavaliercounty.us.
NOTES: Cavalier County is the third county in the North Dakota v2 redo’s second batch (Burleigh, Cass, Cavalier, Dickey, Divide, Dunn, Eddy). The genuine Cold War Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex heritage – the only operational anti-ballistic missile system the U.S. ever deployed – is one of the most historically significant facts covered anywhere in this project. IMPORTANT: don’t confuse Cavalier County with the separate city of Cavalier, which is actually the seat of Pembina County. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Cavalier County
Cavalier County is northeast North Dakota’s Manitoba border wheat and canola farming county – the flat northern plains near Canada support productive grain and oilseed agriculture while Langdon serves as the governmental hub for one of North Dakota’s more remote northeastern border communities.
Langdon (the county seat, population ~1,800) is Cavalier County’s governmental and commercial hub, a northeast North Dakota border town serving the surrounding agricultural communities near Manitoba.
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Cavalier County Assessor at 901 3rd Street, Langdon, ND 58249, phone 701-256-2234. ND assessed at true and full value.
Courts & Legal
Cavalier County District Court at 901 3rd Street, Langdon, ND 58249, phone 701-256-2124, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT
901 3rd St, Langdon, ND 58249
(701) 256-2255
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Cavalier County Clerk of District Court, Langdon (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Cavalier County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Cavalier County Clerk of District Court – Northeast Judicial District 901 3rd Street, Suite 1, Langdon, ND 58249 (701) 256-2124
Cavalier County was founded January 4, 1873, named for fur trapper and explorer Charles Cavalier, in northeastern North Dakota south of the Manitoba border, seated in Langdon.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
North Dakota has adopted the Uniform Probate Code (UPC), under Title 30.1 of the North Dakota Century Code – one of only about 18 states to do so. Probate is handled through the state District Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of the Decedent (Form 1, NDCC § 30.1-23) – available when the estate’s personal property, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000 (raised from $50,000 by 2025’s HB 1224) AND there is no real property in the estate. Requires a 30-day wait after death, no court filing. Mineral and oil/gas rights are classified as real property and can never be transferred by this affidavit.
Informal Probate – available when less than 3 years have passed since death, the validity of the will isn’t disputed, and everyone with equal or higher priority for appointment agrees on the personal representative. No court hearing required; unsupervised administration is the default.
Formal Probate – required when the will’s validity is contested, someone objects to informal probate, or more than 3 years have passed since death.
Supervised Administration – a court can require ongoing supervision if protection of the estate calls for it.
Step 2: filing for administration
File an Application (informal) or Petition (formal) for Probate of Will and Appointment of Personal Representative with the Clerk of District Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
The court/registrar issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (intestate) to the personal representative.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors; North Dakota’s creditor claim period is 3 months from first publication.
The personal representative inventories and manages the estate’s assets, pays debts and expenses, and distributes what remains according to the will or North Dakota’s intestacy law.
The estate is closed with a final accounting/closing statement.
What it costs
No court filing fee for the Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property.
Filing fees for informal/formal probate vary but generally follow the statewide statutory schedule.
North Dakota does NOT have a statutory fee schedule for attorneys or personal representatives – fees must be “reasonable” based on services provided.
No state estate tax, no state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
901 3rd St, Langdon, ND 58249
(701) 256-2115
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
901 3rd St, Langdon, ND 58249
(701) 256-2229
Department
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health
901 3rd St, Langdon, ND 58249
(701) 256-2402
Social Services
901 3rd St, Langdon, ND 58249
(701) 256-2402
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Cavalier County Health District – confirm current contact via cavaliercounty.us.
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Editorial Trust
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Langdon
Population: 3,800
Established: 1883
Tier: 4
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Cavalier County residents.
