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.
St. Paul, Minnesota, in Ramsey County, has about 307,000 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 Ramsey 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: St. Paul public records, Ramsey County arrest records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in St. Paul
The FBI lists St. Paul with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as St. Paul Police Department. It reported 4,758 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 Ramsey County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,321 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Ramsey County: the State Patrol at Oakdale (state police); the Capitol Security, St. Paul and the Minnesota State Fair Police (state agency).
How Many Arrests St. Paul 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.
- St. Paul: 4,758 for 2025, 4,845 for 2024, 4,325 for 2023, 4,157 for 2022, 4,221 for 2021 and 10,052 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
St. Paul's 4,758 arrests in 2025 were down 1.8 percent from 4,845 in 2024.
Through September 2026, St. Paul reported 3,023 arrests, against 3,618 in the same months of 2025.
Across Ramsey County, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,915 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in St. Paul Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in St. Paul 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 2023 the jail held about 400 people, down from about 680 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,022 beds, and it ran at 66 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 Ramsey County Sheriff's Office at ramseycountymn.gov/your-government/leadership/sheriffs-office/sheri... (page title: Inmates In-Custody (Booking Reports) | Ramsey County, Minnesota), phone 651-266-9350, 425 Grove St. Saint Paul, MN 55101, 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 St. Paul
An arrest in St. Paul can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Ramsey 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; the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at ramseycountymn.gov/your-government/leadership/county-attorneys-office).
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 St. Paul
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 St. Paul police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at stpaul.gov/departments/police/administration-office-chief/support-s... (page title: Police Records and Data | Saint Paul Minnesota), phone 651-266-5700, 367 Grove Street Saint Paul, MN 55101, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 651-266-9350.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The Ramsey County guide covers every agency in the county: Ramsey County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in St. Paul each year?
St. Paul reported 4,758 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in St. Paul?
Look on the custody page of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office at ramseycountymn.gov, or call 651-266-9350. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in St. Paul booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in St. Paul?
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 St. Paul?
From the agency that made the arrest: the St. Paul police for its own arrests, the Ramsey 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 St. Paul 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.