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.
Belle Plaine, Minnesota, in Scott County, has about 7,400 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 Scott 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: Belle Plaine public records, Scott County arrest records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Belle Plaine
The FBI lists Belle Plaine with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Belle Plaine Police Department. It reported 173 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 Scott County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 72 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Belle Plaine 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.
- Belle Plaine: 173 for 2025, 167 for 2024, 161 for 2023, 145 for 2022, 185 for 2021 and 245 for 2020.
Belle Plaine's 173 arrests in 2025 were up 3.6 percent from 167 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Belle Plaine reported 124 arrests, against 127 in the same months of 2025.
Across Scott County, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,058 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Belle Plaine Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Belle Plaine 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 2023 the jail held about 110 people, down from about 150 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 210 beds, and it ran at 51 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 Scott County Sheriff's Office at scottcountymn.gov/1583/Jail-Roster (page title: Jail Roster | Scott County, MN), phone 952-496-8314, 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 Belle Plaine
An arrest in Belle Plaine can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Scott 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; the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at scottcountymn.gov/2329/County-Attorney, phone 952-496-8240).
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 Belle Plaine
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 Belle Plaine police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at belleplainemn.gov/217/Police-Department (page title: Police Department | Belle Plaine, MN), phone 952-873-4307, 420 Main Street East Belle Plaine, MN 56011, Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Scott County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 952-496-8314.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 952-496-8240, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at scottcountymn.gov/2216/Request-Data (page title: Request Data | Scott County, MN).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The Scott County guide covers every agency in the county: Scott County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Belle Plaine each year?
Belle Plaine reported 173 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Belle Plaine?
Look on the custody page of the Scott County Sheriff's Office at scottcountymn.gov/1583/Jail-Roster, or call 952-496-8314. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Belle Plaine booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Scott County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Belle Plaine?
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 Belle Plaine?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Belle Plaine police for its own arrests, the Scott County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act the answer is due promptly, within a reasonable time; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at scottcountymn.gov/2216/Request-Data.
Is this the official Belle Plaine 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.