It was not organized at that date, and was not attached to another county for judicial or administrative purposes.

It was named for Joseph Rolette Jr., a fur trader and political figure from Pembina.

[3][4] The International Peace Garden is located in the northwest corner of the county along the Canada–United States border with Manitoba.

Rolette County lies on the northern border of North Dakota with Canada.

The terrain slopes to the south and east; its highest point is its northwest corner, at 2,195 ft (669 m) ASL.

[6] The Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation is in the northeast section of Rolette County.

25.7% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line (down from previous ACS surveys).

[20] The top nine reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were German (7.0%), Norwegian (6.2%), French (except Basque) (2.3%), Irish (1.4%), Polish (1.0%), English (0.8%), Scottish (0.4%), Italian (0.2%), and Subsaharan African (0.0%).

[22] In each of the five presidential elections from 1996 to 2012, the Democratic candidate received over 60% of the vote, with Barack Obama winning 75.1% in 2008 and 74.0% in 2012.