Renville County Court Dockets Defined
A court docket is the working event list for a case. In Renville County, docket information may appear as a daily hearing calendar, a hearing search result, or a Register of Actions in MCRO. The docket does not always contain the full text of every pleading, exhibit, order, or notice. Instead, it tracks what happened and when: a complaint filed, hearing scheduled, motion filed, judgment entered, bail hearing held, settlement conference set, or sentencing recorded.
Renville County District Court is the local trial court location for civil, family, probate, juvenile, criminal, and traffic cases. The county does not have a separate official county court, justice court, JP court, or municipal court portal for ordinary case dockets in the official sources reviewed. Traffic citations, criminal complaints, conciliation cases, probate hearings, family matters, and civil files route through District Court when they become state-court cases.
- Register of Actions
- The chronological MCRO docket list of case events, filings, hearings, orders, and judgments.
- Hearing Type
- The kind of court event, such as bail hearing, settlement conference, eviction hearing, or initial appearance.
- Connection Type
- The role tied to a calendar entry, such as attorney, defendant, plaintiff, or petitioner.
- Disposition
- The outcome of a case, claim, charge, or request.
Renville County Court Calendar
The official Renville County District Court page links to the public daily and weekly calendar PDF. The research file states that calendars are posted at 7:00 a.m. each business day and updated hourly. Even so, court schedules can change because of judge assignments, courtroom assignments, continuances, settlement, custody transport, or other case needs. Printed calendars outside courtrooms or in public lobbies have the most current daily information.
The public calendar is searchable by name or attorney on a computer or mobile device. It does not include every matter. Confidential cases and cases not remotely accessible under Rule 8, subdivision 2, are not posted. A missing online Renville County court docket entry should not be treated as proof that a hearing was canceled. Court Administration is the direct fallback for a hearing date, courtroom, remote hearing question, or access issue.
| Calendar Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Party Name | Name tied to the scheduled hearing entry. |
| Hearing Location | Court location for the event. |
| Hearing Date | Date of the scheduled event. |
| Time | Start time listed for the hearing. |
| Judicial Officer | Judge or officer assigned to the hearing entry. |
| Hearing Type | Event label, such as Pre-trial, Bail Hearing, Eviction Hearing, Commitment, or Initial Appearance - Rule 8. |
| Connection Type | Role such as Attorney, Defendant, Plaintiff, or Petitioner. |
| Case Number | Case identifier, such as 65-CR-25-150, 65-CV-26-162, or 65-CO-26-31. |
Public calendar entries are different from the deeper docket history in MCRO. Use the calendar for upcoming events and MCRO for the case history when access rules allow it.
Find Renville County Dockets Online
The main case-history tool is MCRO Case Search. It can show public District Court case results, hearing search results, case record information, the Register of Actions, monetary judgment details, and some public documents. MCRO is not a certified court record, and the Minnesota Judicial Branch does not certify MCRO results. Certified copies and civil judgment search results must come from Renville County Court Administration.
- Use the Renville County daily calendar PDF to check upcoming hearings when the question is about a court date.
- Use MCRO Case Search when the question is about a case history, Register of Actions, disposition, or docket event.
- Search by case number when one is available, especially for pending criminal, traffic, or petty misdemeanor matters.
- Filter court location to Renville County and narrow by case category or filing date when using a name search.
- Call or visit court administration if the docket is missing online, needs certification, or involves courthouse-only access.
MCRO Case Search is the public case search interface for District Court records, including the tabs used for name, case-number, citation-number, and attorney searches.
Those search tabs are the main online route from a Renville County hearing date to the fuller Register of Actions, when the case is remotely available.
Renville County Docket Fields
Renville County docket entries should be read with the case number, event label, and party role together. The county prefix 65 identifies Renville in Minnesota case numbering. The middle letters identify category. CR is criminal, CV is civil, CO is conciliation, and PR style references are used for probate matters. The year and sequence number help separate cases filed in different years or cases involving similar party names.
| Docket Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case Number | County prefix, category letters, filing year, and sequence number. |
| Case Category | Civil, criminal, family, probate or mental health, conciliation, or other District Court category. |
| Entry Date | Date a docket event was added or occurred. |
| Event Type | Filing, hearing, order, judgment, motion, settlement conference, bail hearing, or sentencing entry. |
| Parties | Plaintiff, defendant, state, petitioner, respondent, interested person, or attorney role. |
| Document Link | Public document access when MCRO remote rules allow online display. |
| Monetary Judgment | Civil judgment or financial details when available and public. |
| Disposition | Final or current outcome for a case, claim, or charge. |
MCRO can also show some documents, but not every public courthouse document appears online. Party street addresses and comment fields are not shown online, and protected identifiers are redacted or withheld.
Renville County Courts With Dockets
Minnesota centralizes trial court case files in District Court. For Renville County, the Minnesota Judicial Branch states that the District Court has original jurisdiction over civil, family, probate, juvenile, criminal, and traffic cases filed in the county. Specialized state courts, such as Tax Court and Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals, exist at the state level, but they are not county trial courts for ordinary Renville County court dockets.
The Eighth Judicial District context matters because calendars, judge assignments, and administrative information may appear in district-wide resources. The Renville daily calendar reviewed in the research showed judicial officers Laurence J. Stratton and John P. Fitzgerald on Renville or district hearings. Those names should be treated as observed calendar entries, not as a complete judge assignment list.
| Court or Office | Docket Role | Access Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Renville County District Court | Trial court for civil, family, probate, juvenile, criminal, and traffic cases. | MCRO, public calendar, court administration. |
| Renville County Court Administration | Certified copies, courthouse-only access, calendars, and local records help. | Counter, phone, fax, and official court page. |
| Minnesota Court of Appeals | Appeals from District Court decisions when appealable. | State appellate channels, not the county daily calendar. |
| Minnesota Supreme Court | Further review in accepted or required cases. | State appellate records and orders. |
No official separate municipal court, JP court, or county court at law docket source was located for Renville County case files.
Renville Dockets vs Case Records
A docket is the event trail. A full case record may include the actual complaint, petition, answer, motion papers, affidavits, exhibits, orders, notices, judgment documents, and other filings. In MCRO, the Register of Actions is often the key docket detail. If a public document is available online, it may be linked from the case record, but remote access is still narrower than courthouse access under Minnesota rules.
| Docket | Full Case Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Chronological list of events and hearing entries. | Case file with pleadings, orders, documents, and docket history. |
| Best Use | Track hearing dates, case progress, and recent court activity. | Review the legal filing, order language, judgment, or certified document. |
| Online Access | Often available through calendar or MCRO if public. | Some public documents online; many records require court administration. |
| Certification | Not certified through MCRO. | Certified copies come from court administration. |
For a broader explanation of search fields and sample case data, use the Renville County court records page. Docket lookup is narrower and is focused on case events and hearing activity.
Read Renville County Docket Entries
Start with the case number. The prefix 65 confirms the case is tied to Renville County. Then read the category letters. CR points to a criminal case, CV to civil, CO to conciliation, and PR style numbers to probate. Next, compare the hearing type with the connection type. A bail hearing, initial appearance, settlement conference, eviction hearing, commitment, pre-trial, or hearing entry means different things depending on the case type and party role.
A missing name-search result can have a legal access reason. Pending criminal, traffic, and petty misdemeanor cases with no conviction may not return in MCRO by defendant-name search, but they may return by case number. Juvenile, CHIPS, Domestic Abuse, Harassment Restraining Order, and civil commitment records have remote display limits. Printed courthouse calendars can be more current than online calendars on hearing day.
Note: A missing online docket entry is not proof that a hearing was canceled or never filed.
For direct docket and calendar questions, contact Renville County Court Administration at the courthouse in Olivia.
Renville County Court Administration
500 E. DePue
Olivia, MN 56277
320-523-3680
Fax: 320-523-3689
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.