North Dakota Free Public Records Directory

North Dakota is known by multiple nicknames: the Peace Garden State, the Flickertail State, the Rough Rider State, and the Sioux State. The official name, the Peace Garden State, was adopted by the North Dakota legislature in 1957 to commemorate the International Peace Garden, located on the border between the state and the province of Manitoba, Canada. The “Flickertail” name refers to the Richardson’s ground squirrel, native to the prairie lands of North Dakota. The “Rough Rider” name honors the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, which included several North Dakota farmers and ranchers pressed into service by Theodore Roosevelt to fight in the Spanish-American War. The “Sioux” name recognizes the Great Sioux Nation-a confederacy of regional Native American tribes that speak three different dialects, the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota.

Despite the abundance of nicknames, North Dakota has demonstrated displeasure with its official title. In 1947 and again in 1989, the state legislature tried to drop the word “North” from its name. ^[1] While both attempts to rename the state “Dakota” failed, imagine the anticipation of the state to the south as the legislative votes were tallied!

So, for now, South Dakota remains North Dakota’s southern neighbor; Montana is to the west, the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan are to the north, and Minnesota is to the east.

This Great Plains state (71,432 square miles) is the 19th largest in the country, but is the fourth smallest in population, and the fourth least densely populated state. ^[2] In 2012, however, North Dakota was the fastest-growing state, due to the oil boom from the Bakken shale rock formation in the western half of the state. North Dakota’s oil production is second only to Texas; in fact, when combined with the output from Texas, the two states provide half the country’s oil. ^[3]

Despite the oil boom and its economic impact, agriculture is North Dakota’s top industry. Approximately 90% of the land is used for farming. The state is the largest producer in the US of cereal grains, including barley, durum wheat, oats, and buckwheat. It also leads in the production of many oilseeds, including canola, flax, mustard, safflower and sunflower seeds.

Sunflowers are one of the top exports of the state; North Dakota grows more of this lovely flower than any other state in the country. The leading honey producer in the US? North Dakota. The agricultural bounty of this state is as abundant as the grasslands and farmlands that cover the territory.

The climate is considered a continental climate with hot summers and very cold winters. While plants and crops can endure the temperature extremes, tourists tend to be less resilient. North Dakota holds the dubious distinction of being the least-visited state in the country. Without a major tourist attraction, visitor appeal is limited. But that may be exactly what some North Dakotans prefer; currently, residents can enjoy the outdoor activities the state offers, including fishing, hunting, and cycling, without hordes of tourists!

To learn more about this state, please see our public records directory.

Abbreviation	ND, N.D.
Capital	Bismarck
Population	755,393 (2017 est.)
Area size	71,432 sq. mi
Demonym	North Dakotan
Primary languages spoken	English
Governor	Doug Burgum
Lieutenant Governor	Brent Sanford
U.S. Senators	Heidi Heitkamp, John Hoeven
U.S. House Delegation	1 Republican
Time Zone	Most of state – Central: UTC -6/-5 Southwest part of state - Mountain: UTC -7/-6

*The map and data in the table are from Wikipedia.

Browse by Public Record Category

There are two types of public records; 1) personal public records that document major life milestones such as birth certificates, death certificates, divorce records, and marriage records, etc.; and 2) government records that are made public such as property tax records, recorded land records, voter records, crime data, jail inmate records, and court records. ^[4] The Freedom of Information Act is a national law that releases government agency public records and makes it possible to view most public records. Since there are a multitude of records available, it can be difficult to know how or where to access them. When you are ready to start your search, you’ll find our Public Records Directory website easy to use since all of the records can be searched by federal, state, county, city, town or type of record. The links provided will connect you to the best website for the record search, provide details about the record, or provide contact information for those records without search capabilities.