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North Dakota County
Sargent County, North Dakota
Sargent County's Red River Valley agricultural plain and Coteau transition - from Sargent County's productive southeastern North Dakota farmland (the rich soils of Sargent County - transitioning from the Red River Valley's flat glacial lake bed to the rolling Coteau des Prairies - produce soybeans, corn, small grain, and sugarbeets in one of the most agriculturally productive corners of southeastern North Dakota) to the county's position at the North Dakota-South Dakota-Minnesota three-state geographic area where the Great Plains' agricultural character is most clearly expressed.
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Office: Sargent County Emergency Manager/911 Coordinator – 355 Main St S, Suite 3, Forman, ND 58032 | (701) 724-6241 ext. 113 | Fax: (701) 724-6244; Emergency Manager Wendy Willprecht, [email protected].
Sheriff: Sargent County Sheriff’s Office – Forman, ND 58032 | (701) 724-3302; arrestees are held at the Richland County Jail in Wahpeton.
Ambulance: Sargent County Ambulance – formed 1972, covers roughly 866 square miles with stations in Milnor and Forman plus first responders in Gwinner, Rutland, and Havana.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: ND-32 serves Forman, the county seat, in southeastern North Dakota bordering South Dakota; Gwinner is the county’s largest city.
Notes: Sargent County, created and organized 1883, is named for Homer E. Sargent, a 19th-century general manager of the Northern Pacific Railroad. It spans agricultural land between the James River and Red River valleys.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Sargent County Auditor – 355 Main St S, Forman, ND 58032 | (701) 724-6241.
Notes: Sargent County is genuinely, significantly the birthplace of the Bobcat skid-steer loader – Gwinner is the original home of the Melroe Company (later Bobcat Company), where Louis and Cyril Keller’s compact loader design, first delivered to a Minnesota turkey farmer in 1957, was manufactured starting in 1958 and branded “Bobcat” in 1962. Bobcat remains one of North Dakota’s largest employers and manufacturers, though its corporate headquarters later moved to West Fargo. The Sargent County Courthouse (built 1910, Beaux Arts style, designed by Buechner & Orth) is genuinely NRHP-listed (1980). Gwinner’s municipal airport is named Roger Melroe Field, honoring the Melroe Company co-founder.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Ransom & Sargent County Veterans Service Office – Sargent County Courthouse, 355 Main St S, Suite 8, Forman, ND 58032 | (701) 724-6241 (Mondays in Forman; the same officer serves Ransom County Tue/Thu/Fri in Lisbon and the ND Veterans Home on Wednesdays).
Federal: Fargo VA Medical Center (long distance, eastern ND).
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current library address/hours via sargentnd.com or formannd.com.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Bobcat Company manufacturing facility and heritage in Gwinner, and the historic Sargent County Courthouse, are the county’s notable landmarks.
Notes: The genuine Bobcat skid-steer loader origin story – a real North Dakota manufacturing icon recognized worldwide – is a distinctive local fact.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Sargent County Auditor – 355 Main St S, Forman, ND 58032.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
No dedicated county animal shelter was confirmed in this search – animal-related concerns likely route through the Sheriff’s Office. Confirm directly via sargentnd.com.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Sargent County Weed Control – 355 Main St S, Suite 1, Forman, ND 58032 | (701) 724-6241. Sargent County Water Resource District and a joint Dickey-Sargent Water Resource District also serve the area.
NOTES: Sargent County is the sixth county in the North Dakota v2 redo’s sixth batch (Ramsey, Ransom, Renville, Richland, Rolette, Sargent, Sheridan). The genuine Bobcat skid-steer loader origin story is a nationally recognized manufacturing heritage 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 Sargent County
Sargent County is southeast North Dakota’s Red River Valley transition and agricultural heartland – the fertile soils between the flat valley and the rolling Coteau produce exceptional grain and soybean yields in the three-state corner where North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota converge.
Forman (the county seat, population ~450) and Milnor (population ~600) serve the county’s grain farming communities near the South Dakota and Minnesota borders.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Sargent County Tax Director at 355 Main Street, Forman, ND 58032, phone 701-724-6241. ND residential assessed at 50% of true value.
Courts & Legal
Sargent County District Court at 355 Main Street, Forman, ND 58032, phone 701-724-6241, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT
355 Main St, Forman, ND 58032
(701) 724-6241
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Sargent County Clerk of District Court, Forman (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1910 Sargent County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark, also housing the NDSU Extension Sargent County office.
Local societies
No dedicated Sargent 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
Sargent County Clerk of District Court – Southeast Judicial District 355 Main Street South, Suite 2, Forman, ND 58032 (701) 724-6241
Sargent County is in southeastern North Dakota along the South Dakota border, seated in Forman. The 1910 Sargent County Courthouse, Beaux Arts in style and designed by Buechner & Orth, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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
355 Main St, Forman, ND 58032
(701) 724-6241
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
355 Main St, Forman, ND 58032
(701) 724-6241
Department
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health
355 Main St, Forman, ND 58032
(701) 724-6241
Social Services
355 Main St, Forman, ND 58032
(701) 724-6241
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Sargent County Public Health – confirm current contact via sargentnd.com.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Forman
Population: 3,700
Established: 1883
Tier: 3
Public Records
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Search public records for Sargent County residents.
