Estherville District Court serves as the district court of Emmet county in the Third judicial district of Iowa. Highway 4, SR 9 and SR 15 pass through Emmet county.

Plenty of places to relax in and around this city. The Dave Spurgin park, centerpiece of the city's park system, has a walking trail, tennis courts, soccer fields, a ballfield and skatepark. Fort Defiance State park has space for picnics, camping and trails for hiking as well as a shelter. Stones from various towns were brought in to build the Estherville Rock Garden in Mickelson park by the Des Moines river. A wonderful place to sit and listen to the sounds of the river. The Emmet County Historical museum a number of historical buildings in addition to its exhibits representative of area's rich history. There is blacksmith shop, one-room school, outhouse, a rural farm windmill site and the Farm Heritage building here.