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 25, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Owatonna, Minnesota, in Steele County, has about 27,000 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 Steele 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: Owatonna public records, Steele County arrest records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Owatonna
The FBI lists Owatonna with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Owatonna Police Department. It reported 367 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 Steele County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 113 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Owatonna 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.
- Owatonna: 367 for 2025, 448 for 2024, 480 for 2023, 502 for 2022, 517 for 2021 and 611 for 2020.
Owatonna's 367 arrests in 2025 were down 18 percent from 448 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Owatonna reported 290 arrests, against 274 in the same months of 2025.
Across Steele County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 493 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Owatonna Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Owatonna 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 28 people, down from about 52 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 86 beds, and it ran at 60 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 Steele County Sheriff's Office at steelecountymn.gov/search.php?q=Inmate+Roster (page title: Steele County, MN), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Owatonna
An arrest in Owatonna can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Steele 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.
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 Owatonna
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 Owatonna police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at owatonna.gov/278/Records-Division (page title: Records Division | Owatonna, MN), phone 507-774-7200, 204 E Pearl Street Owatonna, MN 55060, Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Steele County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The Steele County guide covers every agency in the county: Steele County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Owatonna each year?
Owatonna reported 367 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Owatonna?
Look on the custody page of the Steele County Sheriff's Office at steelecountymn.gov/search.php?q=Inmate+Roster. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Owatonna booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Steele County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Owatonna?
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 Owatonna?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Owatonna police for its own arrests, the Steele 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 Owatonna 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.