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.
Northfield, Minnesota, in Rice County, has about 21,000 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 Rice 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: Northfield public records, Rice County arrest records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Northfield
The FBI lists Northfield with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Northfield Police Department. It reported 274 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 Rice County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 140 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Northfield 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.
- Northfield: 274 for 2025, 304 for 2024, 283 for 2023, 295 for 2022, 294 for 2021 and 460 for 2020.
Northfield's 274 arrests in 2025 were down 9.9 percent from 304 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Northfield reported 169 arrests, against 193 in the same months of 2025.
Across Rice County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 787 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Northfield Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Northfield 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 14 people, down from about 43 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 71 beds, and it ran at 61 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Rice County Sheriff's Office at ricecountymn.gov/279/Rice-County-Jail (page title: Rice County Jail | Rice County, MN), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 429), so open it in a browser.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Northfield
An arrest in Northfield can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: 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 ricecountymn.gov/319/Attorneys-Office-overview, phone 507-332-6103).
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 Northfield
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 Northfield police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at northfieldmn.gov/595/Police-Reports (page title: Police Reports | Northfield, MN), phone 507-645-4477, 1615 Riverview Drive Northfield, MN 55057, Monday, September 28, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Rice County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 507-332-6103, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The Rice County guide covers every agency in the county: Rice County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Northfield each year?
Northfield reported 274 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Northfield booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Rice County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Northfield?
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 Northfield?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Northfield police for its own arrests, the Rice 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 Northfield 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.