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.
Austin, Minnesota, in Mower County, has about 27,000 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 Mower 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: Austin public records, Mower County arrest records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Austin
The FBI lists Austin with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Austin Police Department. It reported 880 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 Mower County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 467 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Austin Reports
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.
- Austin: 880 for 2025, 962 for 2024, 834 for 2023, 973 for 2022, 1,069 for 2021 and 1,301 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Austin's 880 arrests in 2025 were down 8.5 percent from 962 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Austin reported 588 arrests, against 661 in the same months of 2025.
Across Mower County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,347 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Austin Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Austin and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2020 the jail held about 59 people, down from about 72 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 88 beds, and it ran at 82 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 Mower County Sheriff's Office at co.mower.mn.us/175/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriffs Office | Mower County, MN), phone 507-437-9400, Monday through Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Austin
Whether someone was arrested in Austin, and what came of it, shows up in two places: Minnesota Court Records Online, the Minnesota Judicial Branch's free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.mower.mn.us/168/Attorneys-Office, phone 507-437-9428).
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 Austin
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 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 Austin police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at ci.austin.mn.us/administration/city-clerk/request-for-data (page title: Request for Data), phone 507-437-9944, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Mower County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 507-437-9400.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 507-437-9428, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The Mower County guide covers every agency in the county: Mower County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Austin each year?
Austin reported 880 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Austin?
Ask the Mower County Sheriff's Office at 507-437-9400; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.mower.mn.us/175/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Austin booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mower County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Austin?
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 Austin?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Austin police for its own arrests, the Mower 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 Austin 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.