News Item
New legal self-help center to open in Anoka County Courthouse

Posted: Friday, May 29, 2015

Responding to the growing number of people choosing to represent themselves in court proceedings, Minnesota’s Tenth Judicial District is opening a new self-help center at the Anoka County Courthouse to provide legal information and resources to self-represented litigants. The self-help center, which will open to the public on June 1, will serve residents from throughout the Tenth Judicial District, which includes Anoka, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Sherburne, Washington and Wright counties. The center supplements services currently offered by the Anoka County Law Library and associated legal clinics. 

“Ensuring that our justice system is open, fair, equitable, and understandable is one of our highest priorities in the Judicial Branch,” said Tenth Judicial District Judge Bethany Fountain Lindberg, who chaired the district’s Self-Help Center Steering Committee. “As Minnesota, like many other states, has seen a growing number of people representing themselves in legal matters, the Judicial Branch has been working on finding new ways to provide help and resources to these individuals to ensure that they can properly and capably seek justice through our courts. We are pleased to be able to open this new self-help center in the Tenth Judicial District, and hope that many residents in our region take advantage of this important resource.”

The self-help center will open on the second floor of the Anoka County Courthouse, which is located at 325 East Main Street in the city of Anoka. Self-help center staff will be available to provide information and resources Monday through Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. In addition, staff will be available by phone on Fridays between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. by calling (763) 422-6963. Self-represented litigants can also submit questions to self-help center staff via e-mail at 10CourtHelp@courts.state.mn.us. Normal response time for e-mail questions is expected to be 2 to 3 business days.

Self-help center staff will be able to:

  • Help self-represented litigants locate free or low cost legal services and programs, as well as mediation services.
  • Provide information about court process, practice, and procedure.
  • Provide instructions on how to complete court forms, and review filled-out forms for completeness and adequacy. Self-represented litigants can seek help filling out court forms related to a wide variety of court proceedings, including:
    • civil actions;
    • conciliation court matters;
    • criminal expungement;
    • divorce, child support, custody, and family law;
    • landlord and tenant law;
    • name changes; and
    • much more.

While self-help center staff will be able to connect visitors with services that offer legal advice and guidance, they are not able to directly provide legal advice, strategy, or research.

Minnesota is a nationally-recognized leader in providing services to those representing themselves in court. The new self-help center in the Tenth Judicial District is the latest step undertaken by the Minnesota Judicial Branch to expand services for self-represented litigants in the state:

  • The self-help center in Anoka County will be the fourth walk-in help center in the state operated by the Minnesota Judicial Branch. In 2014, three self-help centers in Hennepin and Ramsey counties provided assistance to more than 51,000 people.
  • The Minnesota Judicial Branch “virtual” self-help center serves self-represented litigants across the state through online resources and staff assistance over the phone and through e-mail. In 2014, there were more than 1.7 million visitors to the Judicial Branch self-help online resources, along with nearly 20,000 calls and e-mails to staff.
  • Every courthouse in the state is equipped with self-help workstations consisting of a desk, computer, printer, and phone, which can be used at no cost to find court information, print court forms, and talk over the phone with self-help staff about forms, procedures, and legal resources.
  • Each of Minnesota’s 10 judicial districts coordinate with volunteer attorneys and other legal experts to provide free or low-cost legal advice clinics at various times throughout the year.

For more information on resources available to self-represented litigants in Minnesota, including help for self-represented litigants outside the Tenth Judicial District, visit http://www.mncourts.gov/selfhelp or call (651) 259-3888.

About the Tenth Judicial District

The Tenth Judicial District consists of the counties of Anoka, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Sherburne, Washington, and Wright. Forty-five judges serve the district, which is the second largest of Minnesota's 10 judicial districts. In 2014, more than 135,000 cases were filed in the Tenth Judicial District.