Cass County, N.D. Unfiled Miscellaneous Actions

Collection

Identifier: Mss 406

Staff Only

Scope and Content

The Cass Count, N.D. Unfiled Miscellaneous Actions span from a time frame if 1928, to 1946. The files are part of the Cass County Civil Court case files, but were likely not formally brought forward as part of a civil action. The files were originally house in a filing cabinet, in a numbered series, of which the original order has been kept. A majority of the files consist of minutes written in shorthand. In the case files which are solely shorthand minutes, a notation of that point has been made on the inventory, and knowledge of shorthand will be necessary in order to read the contents of the file.

Dates

1928-1946

Creator

North Dakota. District Court (Cass County) (Organization)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the NDSU Archives.

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection is held by the State of North Dakota

History

The North Dakota Constitution of 1889 created a system of district courts to serve as courts of original jurisdiction below the Supreme Court. It prescribed the numbers and sizes of the original districts, as well as providing for judges and their terms of office. District Three was created in 1889, to include Cass, Steele and Traill counties. Presiding judges included William B. McConnell 1889-1896, Charles A. Pollock 1897-1916, and Albert T. Cole 1917-1919.

In 1909 the North Dakota Legislature enacted a law providing that district court judges should hence forth be elected on a no-party ballot. This measure became effective with the 1910 election. (1909 N.D. Sess. Laws ch. 82, §1). The 1919 Legislature reorganized the district court system, reducing the number of districts to six, but for the first time establishing multi-judge districts. Additional judges were added in 1919, 1955, and 1967. District One, created in 1919 included Nelson, Grand Forks, Griggs, Steele, Barnes, Traill, and Cass counties. Three judges were assigned initially and two additional judges were added in 1967.

In 1979 the Supreme Court directed a complete reorganization of the district court system. The state was divided into seven districts identified in terms of their geographic locations. Cass County became part of the East Central Judicial District, together with Steele and Traill counties. The 1991 North Dakota Legislature unified the trial courts by abolishing the county courts and combining their functions into the district court.

Extent

1.25 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Cass County Unfiled Miscellaneous Actions span from a time frame if 1928, to 1946. The files are part of the Cass County Civil Court case files, but were likely not formally brought forward as part of a civil action. A large majority of the files consist of minutes written in shorthand.