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North Dakota County
Mountrail County, North Dakota
Lake Sakakawea and the Three Affiliated Tribes' Bakken wealth - from Lake Sakakawea's Mountrail County shoreline (Lake Sakakawea - the massive Garrison Dam reservoir on the Missouri River - borders Mountrail County, providing walleye and northern pike fishing, boating, and recreation in one of the most significant inland bodies of water in the Great Plains) to the Three Affiliated Tribes' Bakken oil wealth (the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation on the Fort Berthold Reservation holds some of the most productive Bakken Formation oil lands in North Dakota - the tribes' oil royalties have funded significant reservation infrastructure including schools, hospitals, and community services).
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Office: Mountrail County Emergency Management – PO Box 309, Stanley, ND 58784 | Physical: 101 North Main Street | (701) 628-2975; Emergency Manager Warren Bogert Jr., [email protected].
Sheriff: Mountrail County Sheriff’s Office – 101 Main Street N, PO Box 309, Stanley, ND 58784 | (701) 628-2975; Sheriff Corey Bristol.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-2 and ND-8 serve Stanley, the county seat, in northwestern North Dakota; New Town, on Lake Sakakawea, is the county’s largest city.
Notes: Mountrail County was originally created in 1873, eliminated in 1892 and absorbed into Ward County, then re-created and organized in 1909.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Mountrail County Planning & Zoning – PO Box 248, Stanley, ND 58784 | (701) 628-2909.
Notes: Mountrail County is genuinely part of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, home to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes – nearly 1 million acres straddling Lake Sakakawea across Mountrail, McLean, Dunn, McKenzie, Mercer, and Ward counties. New Town, the county’s largest city, sits near the Tribal headquarters (4 miles west of town) and the MHA Interpretive Center, a museum with permanent exhibits, living history programs, and an outdoor amphitheater. The Mountrail County Courthouse (built 1914, Academic Revival style, designed by Buechner & Orth) is genuinely NRHP-listed (1978) and has served continuously since construction.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Mountrail County Veterans Service Office – 120 South Main Street, PO Box 421, Stanley, ND 58784 | (701) 628-3063 | Fax: (701) 628-3063; VSO Lisa Lapica, [email protected].
Federal: Fargo VA Medical Center (long distance, eastern ND).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Stanley: confirm current library address/hours via co.mountrail.nd.us – city and county resources list a library under county services.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The MHA Interpretive Center near New Town, Lake Sakakawea recreation, and the Fort Berthold Reservation’s cultural sites (including the newer Three Affiliated Tribes National Park, roughly 40 miles southwest of New Town) are the county’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine MHA Nation/Fort Berthold Reservation heritage – with its world-class Interpretive Center – is a distinctive local fact.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Mountrail County Recorder’s Office – PO Box 69, Stanley, ND 58784.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed in this search – animal-related concerns likely route through the Sheriff’s Office; the MHA Nation maintains its own tribal Animal Control Ordinance for reservation lands. Confirm directly via co.mountrail.nd.us.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Mountrail County Ag Agency/Weed Control – confirm current contact via co.mountrail.nd.us.
NOTES: Mountrail County is the third county in the North Dakota v2 redo’s fifth batch (Mercer, Morton, Mountrail, Nelson, Oliver, Pembina, Pierce). The genuine MHA Nation/Fort Berthold Reservation heritage, with its world-class Interpretive Center, is a distinctive 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 Mountrail County
Mountrail County is north-central North Dakota’s Lake Sakakawea and Three Affiliated Tribes Bakken oil county – the MHA Nation’s oil royalties from the Bakken Formation beneath the Fort Berthold Reservation have funded remarkable reservation investment, and Lake Sakakawea’s walleye fishing draws anglers from across the region.
Stanley (the county seat, population ~2,500) serves the county’s agricultural and oil industry communities in the north-central North Dakota corridor.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Mountrail County Tax Director at 101 1st Street NW, Stanley, ND 58784, phone 701-628-2915. ND residential assessed at 50% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Mountrail County District Court at 101 1st Street NW, Stanley, ND 58784, phone 701-628-2915, 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 North Main St, Stanley, ND 58784
(701) 628-2245
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Mountrail County Clerk of District Court, Stanley (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation) Tribal Court serves the Fort Berthold Reservation portion of the region.
Local societies
No dedicated Mountrail 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
Mountrail County Clerk of District Court – Northwest Judicial District Mountrail County Courthouse (mail: P.O. Box 69), Stanley, ND 58784 (701) 628-2915
Mountrail County is in northwestern North Dakota, seated in Stanley. Much of the Fort Berthold Reservation (Three Affiliated Tribes – Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation) lies within or adjacent to the county, which also sits within the Bakken oil-producing region.
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 – highly relevant in Mountrail County given its position in the Bakken oil play, and tribal land/mineral matters here may also fall under federal or tribal jurisdiction rather than state probate.
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
210 North Main St, Stanley, ND 58784
(701) 628-2925
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
210 North Main St, Stanley, ND 58784
(701) 628-2975
Department
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health
210 North Main St, Stanley, ND 58784
(701) 628-2975
Social Services
210 North Main St, Stanley, ND 58784
(701) 628-2975
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Mountrail County Medical Center – Stanley, ND; designated an Acute Stroke-Ready Hospital, offering 24/7 on-call emergency care and Avel eCare telemedicine.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Stanley
Population: 10,000
Established: 1909
Tier: 3
Public Records
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