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North Dakota County
Morton County, North Dakota
Mandan's On-A-Slant Village and the Standing Rock Pipeline protests - from On-A-Slant Village at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park (the reconstructed Mandan earth lodge village at the confluence of the Heart and Missouri rivers - where Mandan people lived for centuries before European contact, and where Lewis and Clark spent a winter among the Mandan people in 1804-1805 - is one of the finest Native American heritage sites in the Northern Plains) to the 2016 Standing Rock pipeline protests (the massive encampment of thousands of Indigenous water protectors and allies in Morton County opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline's Missouri River crossing - one of the most significant Indigenous rights demonstrations in American history - brought the world's attention to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's water sovereignty concerns).
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Sheriff: Morton County Sheriff’s Department – Mandan, ND | (701) 667-3330; Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Within Mandan city limits, 911 dispatch runs through the Central Dakota Communications Center in Bismarck.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-94 and ND-1806 serve Mandan, the county seat and largest city, in south-central North Dakota on the Missouri River across from Bismarck.
Notes: Morton County, created 1873 and organized 1878, is named for Oliver P. Morton, a Civil War-era Indiana governor. Mandan, founded 1879 and designated county seat 1881, is North Dakota’s eighth-most populous city, with the motto “Where the West Begins.”
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Morton County Building Inspections/Permits – (701) 667-3325 | [email protected]. For 911 addresses within Mandan city limits, contact Mandan Building Inspection at (701) 667-3230; for addresses in the unincorporated county, contact the Highway Department, (701) 667-3346.
Notes: Morton County is genuinely home to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, North Dakota’s oldest state park (established 1907), 7 miles south of Mandan. The park preserves the reconstructed On-A-Slant Mandan Indian Village (dating to roughly 1575, once home to 1,000-1,500 people before an 1781 smallpox epidemic) and the reconstructed Custer House – genuinely Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s home while commanding the 7th Cavalry at Fort Abraham Lincoln. On May 17, 1876, Custer led the 7th Cavalry out of this fort toward Montana Territory; five weeks later he and 268 men died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Morton County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via mortonnd.gov.
Federal: Fargo VA Medical Center (long distance, eastern ND).
Key Assets: Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park (Custer House, On-A-Slant Mandan Village, Fort McKeen blockhouses), the Roughrider OHV Trail (22 miles, connecting the park to Fort Rice Campground), and Morton County Parks and Campgrounds are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine Custer/7th Cavalry heritage and On-A-Slant Mandan Village – one of the most historically significant sites covered anywhere in this project – anchor the county’s tourism identity.
No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed in this search – animal-related concerns likely route through the Sheriff’s Office or the City of Mandan. Confirm directly via mortonnd.gov.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Morton County Planning and Zoning – (701) 667-3361 | [email protected].
NOTES: Morton County is the second county in the North Dakota v2 redo’s fifth batch (Mercer, Morton, Mountrail, Nelson, Oliver, Pembina, Pierce). The genuine Custer/7th Cavalry heritage and On-A-Slant Mandan Village at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park – North Dakota’s oldest state park – are among the most historically significant facts covered anywhere in this project. 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 Morton County
Morton County is where the Standing Rock pipeline protests made history – the 2016 encampment of thousands opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline’s Missouri River crossing was one of the most significant Indigenous rights demonstrations in American history, and Fort Abraham Lincoln’s Mandan earth lodge village preserves the civilization Lewis and Clark encountered.
Mandan (the county seat, population ~22,000) is Bismarck’s western neighbor – the two communities form the Bismarck-Mandan metro area across the Missouri River.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Morton County Tax Director at 210 2nd Avenue NW, Mandan, ND 58554, phone 701-667-3302. ND residential assessed at 50% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Morton County District Court at 210 2nd Avenue NW, Mandan, ND 58554, phone 701-667-3355, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT
210 2nd Ave NW, Mandan, ND 58554
(701) 667-3350
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Morton County Clerk of District Court, Mandan (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Morton 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
Morton County Clerk of District Court – South Central Judicial District 210 2nd Avenue NW, Mandan, ND 58554 (701) 667-3358
Morton County is in south-central North Dakota, seated in Mandan, across the Missouri River from Bismarck. One of the state’s more populous counties.
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
205 1st Ave NW, Mandan, ND 58554
(701) 667-3330
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
210 2nd Ave NW, Mandan, ND 58554
(701) 667-3305
Department
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health
210 2nd Ave NW, Mandan, ND 58554
(701) 667-3370
Social Services
210 2nd Ave NW, Mandan, ND 58554
(701) 667-3395
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Three Rivers Human Service Zone – [email protected] | (701) 667-3395.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Mandan
Population: 33,000
Established: 1878
Tier: 3
Public Records
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Search public records for Morton County residents.
