Fessenden District Court can also be called Wells County District Court and is in the Southeast judicial district of North Dakota.

Wells county for a long time was the hunting grounds of Indian tribes. At one time the Yanktonai Indian tribe claimed all of the territory West of the James river on a line with Devils lake. At one time Wells County was part of Pembina County, Minnesota; however around 1870 the Territorial Legislature of Dakota created Pembina and Buffalo counties. Buffalo county was never formally organized and ceased to exist and Wells county was formed from part of it. The annual Wells County Fair is held the third or fourth week of June in Fessenden. The Wells County museum is located at the fairgrounds in Fessenden. In this museum you can see interesting collections of antique agriculture implements, antique automobiles, horse drawn vehicles, artifacts, pioneer tools and utensils.