Polk County | US Courthouses

Polk County is named after James Knox Polk, eleventh President of the United States who signed the congressional act organizing the Minnesota Territory.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Marshall County

E – Pennington County, Red Lake County and Clearwater County

S – Mahnomen County and Norman County

W – Traill County, North Dakota and Grand Forks County, North Dakota

Created: July 20, 1858

County Seat:

Crookston 1858 – present

County Government Center – Crookston

Location: 612 North Broadway / East 6th Street

Built: 1967 – 1968

Style: Modern

Architect: Cecil Griffith of Ellerber Architects & Engineers of Saint Paul

Contractor: Dean L Witcher Inc.

Description: The building faces west and is a three-level block style structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Crookston and is set into a slope, so that the rough random-coursed Minnesota granite of the lower floor disappears at the rear elevation. The upper floors are smooth white concrete with regular window pattern 18 bays across and 7 deep, set off by narrow fins that rise to a wide, vertically scored band. Inside, a unique feature is the open spiral staircase in the center lobby, and a mock rotunda beneath a bright skylight. The building was formerly the courthouse until 2008.

County Justice Center – Crookston

Location: 816 Marin Avenue / Old Highway 75

Built: 2006 – 2008

Style: Modern

Architect: Klein McCarthy & Company Ltd. and Richard Rude Architectural

Contractor: Construction Analysis & Management (CAM) Inc.

Description: The building faces east and is a two story concrete and glass structure. The building is located on spacious grounds to the southwest of the center of Crookston. The building has a north wing and a west wing. On the east front is a central projecting glass section with entrance and four pillars on the first story with extended canopy. The windows are square and the roof line is flat. In the interior is a two story entrance lobby with stairs along the south side. The second story has a north-south hallway with two County District courtrooms on the west side of the north hall and two County District Court courtrooms along the west side of the south hall.The building houses the County District Court of the 9th Judicial District.

See: The 9th Judicial District includes Aitkin County, Beltrami County, Cass County, Clearwater County, Crow Wing County, Hubbard County, Itasca County, Kittson County, Koochiching County, Lake of the Woods County, Mahnomen County, Marshall County, Norman County, Pennington County, Red Lake County and Roseau County.

History: The county was created in 1858 and Crookston was selected as the county seat. The first court met in a rented building in 1879. Later the building burned in 1911. The first courthouse was a two story frame structure built in 1881. The second courthouse was a Beaux Arts structure designed by Kinney & Detweiler and constructed in 1900 at a cost of $90,000. The third courthouse was constructed in 1967 to 1968 and is still now serving as the County Government Center. The fourth and present courthouse known as the County Justice Center was constructed in 2006 to 2008 at a cost of $25,000,000.