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 between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Bonner County, Idaho, has about 54,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Bonner County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Bonner 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: Bonner County public records, Idaho arrest records, Idaho inmate search and Idaho criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Bonner County
The Bonner County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Bonner County. It reported 527 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Sandpoint, 10,444 residents: 383 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ponderay, 2,011 residents: 172 arrests reported for 2024.
- Priest River, 1,847 residents: 56 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 Bonner 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.
- Bonner County Sheriff's Office: 527 for 2025, 672 for 2024, 801 for 2023, 745 for 2021, 777 for 2020 and 626 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Sandpoint: 383 for 2025, 338 for 2024, 424 for 2023, 396 for 2022, 411 for 2021 and 435 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Priest River: 56 for 2025, 52 for 2024, 87 for 2023, 87 for 2022, 80 for 2021 and 56 for 2020.
- Ponderay: 172 for 2024, 189 for 2023, 227 for 2022, 251 for 2021, 176 for 2020 and 151 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 966 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 966 in 2025 against 1,062 in 2024, down 9 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 637 arrests, against 655 in the same months of 2025.
Ponderay reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bonner County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bonner 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 2020 the jail held about 130 people, up from about 96 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 124 beds, and it ran at 77 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 Bonner County Sheriff's Office at bonnercountyid.gov/sheriff (page title: Bonner County Idaho Official Website | Sheriff), phone 208-263-8417, 4001 North Boyer Road Sandpoint, ID 83864, Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., 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 Bonner County
An arrest in Bonner County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Bonner County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at bonnercountyid.gov/departments/courts, phone 208-265-1432); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at bonnercountyid.gov/Prosecutor, phone (208) 263-6714).
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 Bonner 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 Bonner County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 208-263-8417.
- An arrest in Sandpoint, Ponderay or Priest River: 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) 263-6714, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Bonner County District Court, through the court records page at bonnercountyid.gov/departments/courts, phone 208-265-1432.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bonnercountyid.gov/public-records-request (page title: Bonner County Idaho Official Website | Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Cities in Bonner County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the nine cities in Bonner County: Sandpoint, Ponderay and Priest River. Dover, Kootenai, Clark Fork, Oldtown, East Hope and Hope 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 Bonner County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bonner County each year?
The Bonner County Sheriff's Office reported 527 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 966 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bonner County?
Ask the Bonner County Sheriff's Office at 208-263-8417; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bonnercountyid.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Bonner County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Bonner County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bonner 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 Bonner County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bonner 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bonnercountyid.gov/public-records-request.
Is this the official Bonner 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.