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 September 26, 2026.
Mendota Heights, Minnesota, in Dakota County, has about 12,000 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 Dakota 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: Mendota Heights public records, Dakota County arrest records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Mendota Heights
The FBI lists Mendota Heights with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Mendota Heights Police Department. It reported 96 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 Dakota County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 371 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Mendota Heights 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.
- Mendota Heights: 96 for 2025, 136 for 2024, 159 for 2023, 186 for 2022, 139 for 2021 and 277 for 2020.
Mendota Heights's 96 arrests in 2025 were down 29 percent from 136 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Mendota Heights reported 62 arrests, against 50 in the same months of 2025.
Across Dakota County, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,406 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mendota Heights Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Mendota Heights 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 2021 the jail held about 180 people, down from about 220 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 263 beds, and it ran at 84 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 Dakota County Sheriff's Office at dakotacountymn.gov/residents/public-safety-justice/jail/inmate-search (page title: Jail Inmate Search), phone 651-377-7188, 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 Mendota Heights
Whether someone was arrested in Mendota Heights, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Dakota County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Dakota County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch, phone (651) 793-2400); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at dakotacountymn.gov/government/county-attorney, phone 651-438-4438).
Statewide, Minnesota Court Records Online is the Minnesota Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
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 Mendota Heights
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Mendota Heights police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at mendotaheightsmn.gov/m/directory/department?did=7 (page title: Staff Directory, Police Department), phone 651-452-1366, Monday through Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Dakota County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 651-377-7188.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 651-438-4438, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Dakota County District Court, through the court records page at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch, phone (651) 793-2400.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The Dakota County guide covers every agency in the county: Dakota County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mendota Heights each year?
Mendota Heights reported 96 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mendota Heights?
Look on the custody page of the Dakota County Sheriff's Office at dakotacountymn.gov, or call 651-377-7188. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Mendota Heights booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Dakota County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mendota Heights?
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 Mendota Heights?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mendota Heights police for its own arrests, the Dakota 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 Mendota Heights 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.