Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 23, 2026.
Montrose County, Colorado, has about 45,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Montrose County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and one other agency. An arrest leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Montrose County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Montrose County public records, Colorado arrest records, Colorado inmate search and Colorado criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Montrose County
The Montrose County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Montrose County. It reported 395 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Montrose, 21,646 residents: 1,307 arrests reported for 2025.
- Olathe, 1,970 residents: 42 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Montrose County: Delta Montrose Drug Task Force (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Montrose County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Montrose: 1,307 for 2025, 1,326 for 2024, 1,338 for 2023, 1,190 for 2022, 1,258 for 2021 and 1,094 for 2020.
- Montrose County Sheriff's Office: 395 for 2025, 424 for 2024, 448 for 2023, 430 for 2022, 502 for 2021 and 640 for 2020.
- Olathe: 42 for 2025 and 81 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,744 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,702 in 2025 against 1,750 in 2024, down 2.7 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 849 arrests, against 798 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Montrose County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Montrose County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 58 people, down from about 81 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2025 was 178 beds, and it ran at 33 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Montrose County Sheriff's Office at montrosecountysheriffsoffice.com/welcome-to-the-montrose-county-jail (page title: Welcome To The Montrose County Jail | Montrose County Sheriff's Office), phone 970-252-4070, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Colorado Department of Corrections lists its inmates at cdoc.colorado.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Montrose County
For Montrose County the place to look is the case index of the Montrose County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at coloradojudicial.gov/courts/trial-courts/montrose-county, phone 970-252-4300).
Colorado is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the state runs an online name-based criminal history check open to the public, through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Montrose County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Colorado Open Records Act the agency must answer within 3 working days, extendable to 7 when there are extenuating circumstances, and it may charge research and retrieval time after the first hour, plus copying.
- An arrest by the Montrose County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 970-252-4070.
- An arrest in Montrose or Olathe: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Delta Montrose Drug Task Force: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Montrose County District Court, through the court records page at coloradojudicial.gov, phone 970-252-4300.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at montrosecounty.net/656/Request-Public-Records (page title: Request Public Records | Montrose County).
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Montrose County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the four cities in Montrose County: Montrose and Olathe. Nucla and Naturita have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Montrose County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Montrose County each year?
Montrose reported 1,307 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,744 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Montrose County?
Ask the Montrose County Sheriff's Office at 970-252-4070; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at montrosecountysheriffsoffice.com.
Where are people arrested in Montrose County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Montrose County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Montrose County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation: the state runs an online name-based criminal history check open to the public. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Colorado Open Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Montrose County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Montrose County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Colorado Open Records Act the answer is due within 3 working days, extendable to 7 when there are extenuating circumstances; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at montrosecounty.net/656/Request-Public-Records.
Is this the official Montrose County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.