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.
Elk River, Minnesota, in Sherburne County, has about 28,000 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 Sherburne 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: Elk River public records, Sherburne County arrest records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Elk River
The FBI lists Elk River with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Elk River Police Department. It reported 403 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 Sherburne County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 516 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Elk River 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.
- Elk River: 403 for 2025, 379 for 2024, 477 for 2023, 615 for 2022, 704 for 2021 and 502 for 2020.
Elk River's 403 arrests in 2025 were up 6.3 percent from 379 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Elk River reported 218 arrests, against 283 in the same months of 2025.
Across Sherburne County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,177 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Elk River Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Elk River 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 480 people, down from about 630 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 732 beds, and it ran at 66 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 Sherburne County Sheriff's Office at co.sherburne.mn.us/903/Inmate-Search (page title: Inmate Search | Sherburne 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 Elk River
Whether someone was arrested in Elk River, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Sherburne 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 co.sherburne.mn.us/282/County-Attorney, phone 763-765-4725).
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 Elk River
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 Elk River police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at elkrivermn.gov/229/Police (page title: Police Department | Elk River, MN), phone 763-635-1200, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 763-765-4725, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The Sherburne County guide covers every agency in the county: Sherburne County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Elk River each year?
Elk River reported 403 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Elk River?
Look on the custody page of the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office at co.sherburne.mn.us/903/Inmate-Search. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Elk River booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Elk River?
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 Elk River?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Elk River police for its own arrests, the Sherburne 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 Elk River 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.