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 25, 2026.
Moorhead, Minnesota, in Clay County, has about 46,000 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 Clay 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: Moorhead public records, Clay County arrest records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Moorhead
The FBI lists Moorhead with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Moorhead Police Department. It reported 597 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 Clay County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 311 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Moorhead 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.
- Moorhead: 597 for 2025, 715 for 2024, 790 for 2023, 850 for 2022, 1,028 for 2021 and 1,152 for 2020.
Moorhead's 597 arrests in 2025 were down 17 percent from 715 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Moorhead reported 461 arrests, against 390 in the same months of 2025.
Across Clay County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,261 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Moorhead Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Moorhead and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 81 people, down from about 110 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 189 beds, and it ran at 59 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Moorhead
An arrest in Moorhead can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Clay 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 claycountymn.gov/1175/Attorney-Responsibilities).
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 Moorhead
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 Moorhead police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at moorheadmn.gov/emergency-services/police/records-unit (page title: Records Unit | City of Moorhead), phone 218.299.5120, 11 St N Moorhead, MN 56560, Monday - Friday: 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Clay County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Clay 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 Clay County guide covers every agency in the county: Clay County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Moorhead each year?
Moorhead reported 597 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Moorhead booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clay County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Moorhead?
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 Moorhead?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Moorhead police for its own arrests, the Clay 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 Moorhead 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.