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.
Dayton, Minnesota, in Hennepin County, has about 11,000 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 Hennepin 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: Dayton public records, Hennepin County arrest records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Dayton
The FBI lists Dayton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Dayton Police Department. It reported 30 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 Hennepin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,396 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Hennepin County: the University of Minnesota at Twin Cities (campus police); Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the Three Rivers Park District and the Metropolitan Transit Commission (other); the State Patrol at Golden Valley (state police).
How Many Arrests Dayton 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.
- Dayton: 30 for 2025, 20 for 2024, 27 for 2023, 56 for 2022, 45 for 2021 and 63 for 2020.
Through September 2026, Dayton reported 50 arrests, against 23 in the same months of 2025.
Across Hennepin County, the 29 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 25,183 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dayton Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dayton 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 2023 the jail held about 720 people, down from about 1,060 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 1,300 beds, and it ran at 56 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 Hennepin County Sheriff's Office at minneapolismn.gov/resident-services/public-safety/police-public-saf... (page title: Jail Roster | City of Minneapolis), phone 612-348-5112, 350 Fifth St. S., Room 130 Minneapolis, MN 55415, 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 Dayton
An arrest in Dayton can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Hennepin 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 hennepincounty.gov/sitecore/content/hcattorney).
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 Dayton
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 Dayton police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at daytonmn.gov/departments/police/record_copies.php (page title: Police Reports), phone (763)427-2017, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 612-348-5112.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The Hennepin County guide covers every agency in the county: Hennepin County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dayton each year?
Dayton reported 30 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dayton?
Look on the custody page of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office at minneapolismn.gov, or call 612-348-5112. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Dayton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dayton?
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 Dayton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dayton police for its own arrests, the Hennepin 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 Dayton 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.