Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 23, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Albert Lea, Minnesota, in Freeborn County, has about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the County Attorney files charges, a case in the Freeborn County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Albert Lea public records, Freeborn County arrest records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Albert Lea
The FBI lists Albert Lea with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Albert Lea Police Department. It reported 653 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Freeborn County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 176 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Albert Lea Reports
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.
- Albert Lea: 653 for 2025, 657 for 2024, 866 for 2023, 851 for 2022, 731 for 2021 and 801 for 2020.
Albert Lea's 653 arrests in 2025 were down 0.6 percent from 657 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Albert Lea reported 421 arrests, against 486 in the same months of 2025.
Across Freeborn County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 830 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Albert Lea Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Albert Lea 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 2021 the jail held about 23 people, down from about 100 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 133 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 custody page of the Freeborn County Sheriff's Office at freeborncountymn.gov/438/Jail-Roster (page title: Jail Roster | Freeborn County, MN), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Albert Lea
An arrest in Albert Lea can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Freeborn County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; Minnesota Court Records Online, the Minnesota Judicial Branch's free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
Minnesota is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the public criminal history search online is free and shows 15 years of convictions, through the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. 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 Albert Lea
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act the agency must answer promptly, within a reasonable time, and it may charge copying, and staff time for requests over 100 pages.
- An arrest by the Albert Lea police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at freeborncountymn.gov/298/Records (page title: Records | Freeborn County, MN), phone 507.377.5200, Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Freeborn County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The Freeborn County guide covers every agency in the county: Freeborn County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Albert Lea each year?
Albert Lea reported 653 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Albert Lea?
Look on the custody page of the Freeborn County Sheriff's Office at freeborncountymn.gov/438/Jail-Roster. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Albert Lea booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Freeborn County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Albert Lea?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension: the public criminal history search online is free and shows 15 years of convictions. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Albert Lea?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Albert Lea police for its own arrests, the Freeborn County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act the answer is due promptly, within a reasonable time.
Is this the official Albert Lea website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.