Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest 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 October 2, 2026.
Lake Elmo, Minnesota, in Washington County, has about 14,000 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 Lake Elmo is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Lake Elmo public records, Washington County criminal records, Lake Elmo arrest records, Lake Elmo warrants, Lake Elmo inmate search, Lake Elmo court records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Washington County District Court
A criminal case from Lake Elmo is filed in the Washington County District Court, and the court file, kept by the court administrator, is the record of it that the public may see.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at mncourts.gov/find-courts/washington (page title: Washington County District Court), phone (651) 413-8030, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Lake Elmo
The Washington County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Woodbury, Cottage Grove, Oakdale, Forest Lake, Stillwater, St. Paul Park and two more cities keep the arrest records in and around Lake Elmo: 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 Hastings Police Department and the White Bear Lake Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Washington County, so their arrests are not broken out for Washington County here.
Together, the nine agencies in Washington County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,944 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 Lake Elmo arrest records.
The County Attorney for Washington County
Charges in Washington County are filed by the County Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Washington County District Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at washingtoncountymn.gov/411/County-Attorney (page title: Washington County Attorney's Office | Washington County, MN), phone 651-430-6115, 1825 Curve Crest Blvd. #202, Stillwater, MN 55082, Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Lake Elmo
Registered sex offenders living in Lake Elmo 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 Washington 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. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at washingtoncountysheriffmn.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public Law Enforcement RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Lake Elmo?
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 Lake Elmo criminal cases online?
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 Lake Elmo?
The County Attorney, reached at 651-430-6115, which files its cases in the Washington County District Court.
Is this the official Lake Elmo 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.