Virtual Court Services

The Virtual Court Services program coordinates virtual hearings with state, federal, immigration and Tribal courts, and provides rapid and reliable access to video conferencing resources, so incarcerated people and other residents of our facilities can resolve outstanding court matters.

This resource is highly sought after, and requires consideration of the following questions prior to scheduling a virtual hearing through our facilities:

• Is this a health services or family court matter? We have specific resources set aside for these cases and unique processes at each location for scheduling. We recommend that you reach out to our Virtual Court Navigation team at Virtual.Courts.DOC@state.mn.us if you are unsure of how best to schedule this with a facility.
• Could this matter be addressed using a telephone appearance? If so, please identify and contact the person’s caseworker for scheduling.
• Will the appearance be completed in one hour or less? If not, we encourage you to consider a writ. Please see our Writ and Transportation Policy for guidance.

Scheduling a Virtual Hearing

Court administrators should coordinate with the judicial officer and attorney(s) to determine times of mutual availability prior to scheduling a virtual hearing with our team. Please note that scheduling requests from a party’s attorney to the DOC will be denied and will be directed to the presiding court.

When able, please confirm the location and status of the justice-involved individual and verify that no writ has been filed for the hearing prior to scheduling a virtual hearing. To locate an incarcerated person’s current facility, search the MNDOC Locator. To verify the residence of a juvenile at our Red Wing facility, please email RW-Records.DOC@state.mn.us.

Virtual hearings may be scheduled according to each facility’s schedule and availability for 30, 45, or 60 minutes.

We request a minimum notice of two business days to confirm and coordinate the facilitation of a virtual hearing. Hearing requests are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and as far in advance as is reasonably attainable with consideration to sentence length, facility permanency, and pending transfers.

For all scheduling requests, please include the following information to best expedite the process:

• Offender Identification Number (OID)
• Name
• Date of Birth
• Court File Number
• Meeting ID and Passcode
• SIP-URI

Virtual Court Hours by Facility

While we make our best efforts to uphold standard operating hours across all facilities, hours of availability may be restricted due to critical staffing, safety concerns and/or the availability of technology resources.

Note: the first time listed is the earliest time a hearing can be scheduled; the second time listed is the time by which the facility needs for hearings to conclude. These times are based on facility staffing levels and facility operations.

To learn more about the scheduling process or to submit requests for exceptions to any of these guidelines, please contact the Virtual Court Navigation Team.

Hosting a Virtual Hearing

The DOC is able to support any virtual conferencing platform that allows businesses to connect VoIP phone systems using SIP trunking. In most cases, SIP trunking is included with “unlimited” user licenses for cloud systems such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and WebEx. Please consult with your organization’s IT specialist to confirm that you are able to support this kind of virtual connection. If you are unable to establish a SIP trunk, the DOC is able to host the virtual hearing using its chosen conferencing platform; contact our Virtual Court Navigation Team to use this option.

Courts are asked to prioritize hearings they have scheduled in partnership with the DOC to begin near the scheduled start time to ensure other matters are heard as scheduled and reduce the need for rescheduling.

Once a hearing is scheduled, DOC and the Courts will put forward best efforts to ensure that the hearing will be held as scheduled. If a hearing is canceled or rescheduled by the courts, please notify the facility scheduler as soon as possible prior to the hearing. If DOC needs to cancel a scheduled Virtual Court Hearing, the Records Team or a member of the Virtual Court Hearing Team will reach out as soon as the need becomes apparent.

DOC staff will strive to adhere to all standards and policies set forward by the Courts but may be required to break protocol in order to preserve safety and security at the site.

DOC policy requires legal mail and court documents and pleadings to be sent to an incarcerated person or resident via U.S. Mail, unless a rule or statute requires another delivery method. We consider court mail to be legal mail and it is logged by mail room staff under our Mail Policy. Please ensure that the justice-involved individual is mailed any legal documents within a reasonable time prior to the court hearing.

Legal Representatives

We value ensuring justice-involved individuals have access to legal counsel and have processes in place for attorney calls. To support the operations of our Virtual Court Services, we encourage you to schedule your attorney client communications prior to the hearing.

Please refer to our Visitation Policy and our Telephone Use Policy for more information.

For questions, concerns, or to request an exception to the virtual court process, please contact our virtual court team by email:

Contact the Virtual Court Team