As a business Olmsted County must operate within rules and guidelines in a manner that is safe for the public. The County Attorney's office provides legal representation to the Officials and Officers of the County. Olmsted County's District Court is one of 11 courts of the Third Judicial District of the Minnesota Judicial System. There are currently 6 judges chambered in the county. Criminal includes disposition of both major and minor offense types, including felony, gross misdemeanor, misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor cases, as well as traffic and parking tickets.
Family includes dissolution, custody, support, paternity, domestic abuse and adoption cases.
Juvenile includes cases involving delinquency, children in need of protection, termination of parental rights, truancy, etc. Probate includes commitment for mental illness, supervised and unsupervised probate and guardianship cases. A windstorm in the late 1880's took the dome and roof off the courthouse built in 1866. In 1892 the Commissioners arranged for repairs and improvements including a new tower. Sometime in 1893 the dome, with Themis the goddess of justice with her gold leafed sword in her right hand and gold leafed scales in her left hand, was put on top of the courthouse.