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 24, 2026.
Benewah County, Idaho, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Benewah County Sheriff's Office and two city agencies. 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 Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Benewah 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: Benewah County public records, Idaho arrest records, Idaho inmate search and Idaho criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Benewah County
The Benewah County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Benewah County. It reported 238 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
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:
- St. Maries, 2,487 residents: 31 arrests reported for 2025.
- Plummer, 1,125 residents: 0 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Benewah County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- St. Maries: 31 for 2025, 22 for 2024 and 37 for 2023.
- Plummer: 0 for 2025, 4 for 2024 and 6 for 2023.
- Benewah County Sheriff's Office: 238 for 2024, 223 for 2023, 237 for 2022, 327 for 2021, 351 for 2020 and 430 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 31 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 31 in 2025 against 26 in 2024.
Benewah County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Benewah County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Benewah 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 2023 the jail held about 19 people, up from about 14 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 16 beds, and it ran at 119 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 Benewah County Sheriff's Office at benewahcountyid.gov/departments/sheriff (page title: Sheriff), phone 208-245-2555, 701 W College Ave, Suite 301 St Maries, ID 83861, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Idaho Department of Correction, whose inmate locator is at idoc.idaho.gov/content/prisons/resident-client-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Benewah County
An arrest in Benewah County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Benewah County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at benewahcountyid.gov/departments/court, phone 208-245-3241); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at benewahcountyid.gov/departments/prosecutor, phone (208) 245-2564).
Statewide, iCourt Portal is the Idaho courts' free statewide case search.
Idaho is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: name-based conviction checks are open to the public, through the Idaho State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification. 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 Benewah County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Idaho Public Records Act the agency must answer within 3 working days, or 10 when more time is needed, and it may charge copying after the first 100 pages and labor after the first two hours.
- An arrest by the Benewah County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 208-245-2555.
- An arrest in St. Maries or Plummer: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (208) 245-2564, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Benewah County District Court, through the court records page at benewahcountyid.gov/departments/court, phone 208-245-3241.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Cities in Benewah County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Benewah County: St. Maries and Plummer. Tensed has 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 Benewah County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Benewah County each year?
St. Maries reported 31 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 31 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Benewah County?
Ask the Benewah County Sheriff's Office at 208-245-2555; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at benewahcountyid.gov/departments/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Benewah County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Benewah County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Benewah County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Idaho State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification: name-based conviction checks are open to the public. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Idaho Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Benewah County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Benewah County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Idaho Public Records Act the answer is due within 3 working days, or 10 when more time is needed.
Is this the official Benewah 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.