Hillsboro District Court may formally be known as the Traill County District Court and is in the East Central judicial district of North Dakota.

An Act of the Territorial Legislature of Dakota Territory established Traill county early in the year of 1875 and in the Spring of that year Caledonia was selected as the county seat. However in late 1890 the voting residents of the county voted to move the county seat to Hillsboro. The four paintings on the ceiling in the rotunda of the Traill County Courthouse, which is on the National Register of Historical Places, show four different scenes from around Traill County. Hillsboro was first settled by Germans in the 1860's and then Norwegian settlers, who were attracted to the treed area along the Goose river, came. Around 1880, the Great Northern railroad was being built into the county and where construction stopped that year, a town sprang up which was named for the owner of the railroad. Hillsboro's swimming pool is located in Woodland Park which has room for fishing in the Goose river, ice-skating, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing and sites for primitive camping along the Goose River. The city also has a skate park and a fitness center, which is located in the events center. Besides having a free-weight area and gymnasium is also the sight of high school basketball, volleyball, wrestling and even indoor softball when the weather turns too cold.