Minnesota Digital Exhibit System (MNDES)

Overview

The Minnesota Digital Exhibit System (MNDES) is the application you use to upload documents, photos, and audio/video recordings that you want to offer as evidence at an evidentiary hearing or trial, unless the court instructs you to do something different.

Physical exhibits and exhibits containing sexual content or nudity, including internet addresses linking to those materials, cannot be uploaded to MNDES and must be brought to the hearing.

You must follow Court Rules concerning exhibits, including sending the exhibits to other parties involved in your case.

Note: If there is a court order that says you cannot contact another party, such as an Order for Protection (OFP), Harassment Restraining Order (HRO), or Domestic Abuse No Contact Order (DANCO), pay close attention to any instructions in the hearing notice or court order about how to submit and share exhibits. If no instructions are given in the hearing notice or court order, contact court administration to see if there is a local process that could help you. We also encourage you to talk to a lawyer to make sure you are not violating the order by how you share your exhibits with the other party.

The Rules of Evidence apply to exhibits submitted through MNDES the same way they do to physical exhibits. Because these rules can be complicated, it is a good idea to talk to a lawyer for help with your case.

Keep in mind that you are responsible for following any deadlines that apply to your case. You can also contact your local court administration office.

For a visual guide to the MNDES application, see Application Overview - MNDES Portal

Registration is easy and only takes a few minutes. Read the Quick Reference Guide (QRG) – Creating and Managing a MNDES Account for instructions.

MNDES is compatible with Chrome, Edge, and Safari browsers. The only information you need to register is your legal first and last name and a valid email address. After you create an account, you will receive an email from MNDES (dem@imagesoftinc.com) to complete registration and then you will be able to access MNDES, set up your profile, and submit exhibits into a specific case. You should receive the registration email immediately, so please check your spam or junk folder if it is not in your inbox.

If your email address changes and you need to update your MNDES user account, you can update your email address on the Profile tab by selecting Change, entering the new email and following the steps provided “My Profile”, Advanced Profile Settings page in MNDES. See the QRG - Creating and Managing a MNDES account for more information.

If multiple people within the same office need to work with exhibits, you can set up a MNDES account using a generic group email account so that exhibit management duties can be shared within the same firm.

It is possible to submit an exhibit for a hearing without an account if you do not want to create one by asking court administration staff to send you a link. Also, the judicial officer who hears your case may decide to order you to create an account in MNDES to submit your exhibits.

Use the MNDES Contact Us form to submit a question by email and we will do our best to respond within 24 hours. You can also contact us by phone by calling (651) 413-8160 (if you are calling from area code 612, 651, 763, or 952) or by calling (833) 707-2791 (for all other callers).

Keep in mind that you are responsible for following any deadlines that apply to your court case. You can also contact your local court administration office.

Here is a list of written guides with more information about using MNDES:

MNDES Portal Training Materials

MNDES for Non-Branch Employees

Quick Reference Guide – Creating and Managing a MNDES Account for Non-Branch Employees

Frequently Asked Questions

Update the Exhibit Name so that it briefly describes the content and is easily identifiable (for example, “picture of rear passenger door”).
Only include an Exhibit Number if the judicial officer instructs you to do so. Check to see whether your judicial officer issued something called a “scheduling order” and, if so, follow any numbering instructions that were included.
Do not zip or compress an exhibit file. It should be uploaded in the original format, such as a pdf, jpg, etc.
Upload exhibits individually so they are listed separately in MNDES. Do not combine multiple exhibits into a single file.

MNDES accepts all commonly used file types for audio, video, document, and image files. Read through the list of acceptable file types for more details. Please note the list of acceptable file types is effective June 1, 2024. Please see SCA-AO-24-1 Order Establishing Permitted File Types for the Minnesota Digital Exhibit System for more information.

The current file size limit that can be uploaded to MNDES is 100 GB (100,000,000 KB). Keep in mind that larger files will take longer to upload. If you are uploading a larger file, it will take the system longer to complete the upload process so that your file will be ready.

Exhibits that you upload and do not offer to the court as evidence remain in MNDES until the retention period for all exhibits in the case is reached. You can request an exhibit in pre-hearing status be deleted any time before it is offered to the court during a hearing. To do so, submit a deletion request from the portal. Court staff review deletion requests. Requests that are approved will process within 24 hours. If your request is denied, you will receive an email with a reason for the denial.

Each exhibit uploaded into MNDES receives a unique exhibit tracking number as it is uploaded that will never change during the course of the case for that exhibit file. An exhibit number is the number assigned to an exhibit during the hearing or trial. If an exhibit number is entered by a party when uploading, it may be changed by the party or the court depending on what number is officially assigned during the hearing or trial.

Attorney Frequently Asked Questions

MNDES Login

Evidence and Exhibits