Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026.
Burnsville, Minnesota, in Dakota County, has about 65,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Minnesota the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the court administrator; the statewide criminal history kept by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Burnsville is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Burnsville public records, Dakota County criminal records, Burnsville arrest records, Burnsville warrants, Burnsville inmate search, Burnsville court records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Dakota County District Court
In Minnesota the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Burnsville are heard by the Dakota County District Court, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate and juvenile case, and the file of each case is kept by the court administrator.
For Dakota County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch (page title: Case Search | Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO)), phone (651) 793-2400, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, Minnesota Court Records Online is the Minnesota Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
The Minnesota Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
To see your own record, the route is a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/bca-divisions/criminal-justice-information....
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Burnsville
The Dakota County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Burnsville (filed by the FBI as Burnsville Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Burnsville: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The Northfield Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Dakota County, so its arrests are not broken out for Dakota County here.
Together, the 12 agencies in Dakota County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,406 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Burnsville arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Burnsville in 2025
The agency that reports for Burnsville had 106 violent and 970 property crimes reported for 2025; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The County Attorney for Dakota County
Charges in Dakota County are filed by the County Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Dakota County District Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at dakotacountymn.gov/government/county-attorney (page title: County Attorney), phone 651-438-4438, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Burnsville
Registered sex offenders living in Burnsville are listed on the Minnesota Predatory Offender Registry, run by the Minnesota Department of Corrections at mn.gov. Only Level 3 offenders are listed online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Dakota County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act a county office must answer a request promptly, within a reasonable time, and it may charge copying, and staff time for requests over 100 pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Burnsville?
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.
Can I search Burnsville criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch (page title: Case Search | Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO)). Statewide, Minnesota Court Records Online is the Minnesota Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
How do I get my own Minnesota criminal history?
Through a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Who prosecutes crimes in Burnsville?
The County Attorney, reached at 651-438-4438, which files its cases in the Dakota County District Court.
Is this the official Burnsville 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.