What Is a Hennepin County Court Docket
A docket is the official, time-ordered log of events in a court case. In Hennepin County, the docket is called the Register of Actions. Each entry has a date, an event type, a short description, and sometimes a document link. The Register of Actions is the official record of what happened on a case. It tracks filings, hearings, notices, orders, pleas, sentences, judgments, satisfactions, and appeals.
A docket is not the same as the full case file. The full file holds the underlying papers: complaints, motions, exhibits, transcripts, and orders. A docket entry may point to one of those documents, but the docket itself is the index, not the documents. A Hennepin County court dockets search can also mean a daily court calendar, which is the schedule of hearings a judge will hear on a given day. Both are public for most case types under the Minnesota Rules of Public Access.
Hennepin handles a huge volume of docket events. The Fourth Judicial District processes about 40% of all Minnesota case filings, so the daily court calendar across the Government Center, Public Safety Facility, Family Justice Center, Juvenile Justice Center, Brookdale, and Ridgedale is large. Court display monitors at each building post the day's docket so that visitors can find their courtroom and judge.
How to Find Hennepin County Dockets Online
Hennepin court dockets are searched through Minnesota Court Records Online. Use the Case Search tab to open a single case and read its Register of Actions. Use the Hearing Search tab to find a scheduled hearing across the court. Hearing Search requires a hearing date or range when paired with a name search.
- Open MCRO and accept the terms.
- For a specific case, click Case Search, enter the case number, party name, citation number, or attorney, and select Hennepin in the county list.
- Open a result row. The Case Details page lists the Register of Actions with each docket event in date order.
- For a hearing schedule, click Hearing Search. Choose Name, Case Number, Judicial Officer, or Attorney.
- Enter a Hearing Date or Date Range; this is required for name lookups.
- Click Search and open a row to see hearing type, date, time, judicial officer, and courtroom.
The Hennepin daily court calendar is published from the Going to Court page. The calendar shows hearings by judge and division. Visitors at the Government Center, Family Justice Center, and Juvenile Justice Center can also read the live calendar on display monitors near the elevators and security checkpoints.
Sample Hennepin County Docket Entry
Each docket line on a Hennepin case page follows the same general shape. The table below maps each visible field to what it means on a real case.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Event Date | Date the docket event was entered by court administration. |
| Event Type | Filing, hearing, order, plea, motion, notice, judgment, warrant, sentence, or satisfaction. |
| Event Description | Short text describing the event, such as Motion to Continue, Order for Conditional Release, or Judgment Entered. |
| Party | Party that filed the document or party affected by the order. |
| Judicial Officer | Judge or referee assigned to the event when public. |
| Document Link | Link to the public document when one is available remotely. |
| Hearing Date and Time | For hearing-related entries: date, time, courtroom, judicial officer. |
| Disposition | For disposition events: plea, conviction, dismissal, judgment, transfer. |
Many docket events have an attached document. Public documents filed on or after July 1, 2015 are widely available remotely in major and minor civil and criminal case types, plus formal probate, other probate, guardianship, conservatorship, and trust matters. Family case dockets remotely display only court-prepared orders, opinions, and notices.
Courts That Publish Dockets in Hennepin County
Every Hennepin District Court division enters docket events into the statewide Minnesota Court Information System. MCRO is the public-view portal that pulls from that system. Some case types are blocked from remote view, even though the docket itself exists.
- Civil Court at the Government Center, floors C3-C11 and C13-C19, publishes civil dockets for lawsuits, contract disputes, tort claims, and judgments.
- Criminal Court Division 1 at the Government Center and the Public Safety Facility publishes criminal and major-criminal dockets, with the pending no-conviction name-search limit.
- Criminal Court Division 2 at Brookdale Regional Center publishes suburban criminal dockets.
- Criminal Court Division 3 at Ridgedale Regional Center publishes suburban criminal dockets.
- Family Court at the Family Justice Center publishes family dockets, with remote documents limited.
- Probate / Mental Health Court at the Government Center publishes probate, guardianship, conservatorship, and trust dockets; civil commitment documents are not remote.
- Housing Court at the Government Center, 3rd floor, publishes eviction and landlord-tenant dockets.
- Conciliation Court at the Government Center, 3rd floor, publishes small-claims dockets.
- Juvenile Court at the Juvenile Justice Center holds juvenile dockets, most of which are not public.
The Violations / Hearing Office on the Hennepin Criminal and Traffic Division page handles traffic and petty misdemeanor calendars. The Treatment Courts (DWI Court, Veterans Court, Criminal Mental Health Court, Model Drug Court) publish specialized calendars and outcome reports through the Treatment Courts page.
Docket vs. Full Case Record
The docket and the full case file serve different needs. The docket is a fast scan tool. The full file is the legal record. Most users only need the docket. Lawyers, party representatives, and researchers may need the full file.
| Docket / Register of Actions | Full Case Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Ordered list of events | Filed documents, exhibits, transcripts |
| Access | Free on MCRO when public | Public documents on MCRO; full file by request at the Records Center |
| Use | Track case progress, find hearing date | Legal review, evidence, certified copies |
| Cost | No charge | $14 per certified copy |
| Limit | Pending no-conviction criminal/traffic hidden by name | Sealed or restricted documents not available |
If a case event is on the docket but the document is not online, the user can still pull the paper version from the Records Center. The opposite is rare; if a docket entry does not appear remotely, the case may be in a restricted category.
How to Read a Hennepin County Docket
A Hennepin docket uses common Minnesota court shorthand. Case numbers carry the county prefix 27 and a case-type letter. CR is criminal. CV is civil. FA is family. PR is probate. JV is juvenile. HG is housing. CO is conciliation. The year follows the letter, then a sequence number. The full string 27CR2520607 reads as Hennepin criminal, year 2025, sequence 20607.
Common docket events on a criminal case include First Appearance, Omnibus Hearing, Rasmussen Hearing, Pretrial Conference, Plea, Sentencing, and Probation Review. Civil events include Summons, Answer, Scheduling Order, Motion for Summary Judgment, Trial, Judgment, and Satisfaction of Judgment. Family events include Petition, Initial Case Management Conference, Settlement Conference, Order for Temporary Relief, Judgment and Decree, and post-decree motions.
The next-court-date object on a Hennepin jail roster entry maps to a docket event. The jail app maps category 1 to DOWNTOWN, category 2 to RIDGEDALE, and category 3 to BROOKDALE. If a docket entry shows a courtroom outside the Government Center, check the address on Going to Court before traveling.
Find a Hennepin County Court Hearing
MCRO Hearing Search is the right tool for a specific hearing date. It supports Name, Case Number, Judicial Officer, and Attorney searches. Name searches require a hearing date or date range. Judicial Officer search returns every hearing on a judge's calendar in the date window. Attorney search returns every hearing where a named attorney has an appearance.
The court contact center at 612-348-6000 can confirm a hearing courtroom if the docket entry is unclear. For suburban hearings at Brookdale or Ridgedale, the jail roster court-locations help line is 612-348-2040. Call before driving when a roster entry only shows a category number.
Note: If a Hennepin hearing notice and MCRO show different times, the hearing notice from court administration controls. Confirm with the Court Contact Center.
Common Hennepin County Docket Abbreviations
Docket entries use a mix of standard Minnesota court shorthand and Hennepin local terms. The list below covers the most common ones a public searcher will see on a Hennepin County court dockets page.
- ROA
- Register of Actions; the chronological docket itself.
- OMN
- Omnibus Hearing; the main pretrial hearing in a Minnesota criminal case.
- RAS
- Rasmussen Hearing; addresses confessions, identification, and search-and-seizure issues.
- FTA
- Failure to Appear; missed a required court appearance.
- OFP / HRO
- Order for Protection / Harassment Restraining Order; both case types are not remote.
- CHIPS
- Child in Need of Protection or Services; restricted juvenile case type.
- D16
- Juvenile Delinquency Felony 16; restricted case type not on MCRO.
- J&D
- Judgment and Decree; the final order in a Hennepin divorce case.
Two short abbreviations are worth knowing for building names. GC is the Government Center. PSF is the Public Safety Facility. FJC is the Family Justice Center. JJC is the Juvenile Justice Center.