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Roads: ND-45 and ND-200 intersect near Cooperstown, the county seat and largest city, in east-central North Dakota.
Notes: Griggs County, created 1881 and organized 1882, is named for Alexander Griggs, a steamboat captain credited with founding Grand Forks. Cooperstown itself is named for Bonanza farmers R.C. and T.J. Cooper.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Griggs County Auditor – Griggs County Courthouse, 805 Odegard Ave SW, Cooperstown, ND 58425; confirm current phone via griggscountynd.gov.
Notes: Griggs County is genuinely home to the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site – the Oscar-Zero Missile Alert Facility (4 miles north of Cooperstown on ND Highway 45) and the November-33 Launch Facility (2 miles east on ND Highway 200), the last intact remnants of the 321st Missile Wing, an intercontinental ballistic missile network activated in 1964 and completed in 1965. Acquired by the State Historical Society of North Dakota from the U.S. Air Force in 2008, tours (opened 2009) take visitors through the 1980s-era Launch Control Support Building and down an elevator into the underground Launch Control Center, complete with the original 1960s-era missile launch chair and control board. The Griggs County Courthouse (built 1884, Victorian Gothic style) is the oldest courthouse of its kind in this project, genuinely NRHP-listed (1977); its grounds also preserve an 1879 log house believed to be the first house in the county.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Griggs County Veterans Service Office – 808 Rollin Ave SW, PO Box 511, Cooperstown, ND 58425 | (701) 797-3717.
Federal: Fargo VA Medical Center (long distance, eastern ND).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Cooperstown: Griggs County Library – 902 Burrel Avenue SE, PO Box 546, Cooperstown, ND 58425; roughly 28,000-volume collection, circulating nearly 20,000 items annually.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site (Oscar-Zero/November-33) and the Griggs County Museum (which includes a Northern Plains Cold War Interpretive Center complementing the missile site) are the county’s premier, nationally significant attractions.
Notes: The genuine Cold War Minuteman missile heritage 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 griggscountynd.gov.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Griggs County Water Board – (701) 797-2977.
NOTES: Griggs County is the sixth county in the North Dakota v2 redo’s third batch (Emmons, Foster, Golden Valley, Grand Forks, Grant, Griggs, Hettinger). The genuine Cold War Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site – one of the most historically significant Cold War heritage sites in the country – is a defining local fact. 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 Griggs County County
Griggs County is east-central North Dakota’s Sheyenne River and prairie pothole agricultural county – the meandering river and the glaciated pothole landscape producing waterfowl and grain in equal measure define a community where Cooperstown serves the county’s farming families in the rolling glaciated plains.
Cooperstown (the county seat, population ~900) is Griggs County’s governmental hub on US 200, an east-central North Dakota agricultural community whose Sheyenne River access, prairie pothole hunting, and grain farming economy anchor its identity.
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Griggs County Assessor at 808 Burrell Avenue, Cooperstown, ND 58425, phone 701-797-2792. ND assessed at 50% of true and full value.
Courts & Legal
Griggs County District Court at 808 Burrell Avenue, Cooperstown, ND 58425, phone 701-797-2792, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT
707 South Grand Ave, Cooperstown, ND 58425
(701) 797-2775
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Griggs County Clerk of District Court, Cooperstown (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Griggs 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
Griggs County Clerk of District Court – Southeast Judicial District 808 Rollin Avenue SW (mail: P.O. Box 326), Cooperstown, ND 58425 (701) 797-2772 Griggs County is in eastern North Dakota, seated in Cooperstown.
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
707 South Grand Ave, Cooperstown, ND 58425
(701) 797-2726
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
707 South Grand Ave, Cooperstown, ND 58425
(701) 797-2725
Department
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health
707 South Grand Ave, Cooperstown, ND 58425
(701) 797-2725
Social Services
707 South Grand Ave, Cooperstown, ND 58425
(701) 797-2725
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Griggs County Public Health – confirm current contact via griggscountynd.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Cooperstown
Population: 2,300
Public Records
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Search public records for Griggs County County residents.
