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.
Willmar, Minnesota, in Kandiyohi County, has about 22,000 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 Kandiyohi 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: Willmar public records, Kandiyohi County arrest records, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Willmar
The FBI lists Willmar with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Willmar Police Department. It reported 554 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 Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 238 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Willmar 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.
- Willmar: 554 for 2025, 595 for 2024, 707 for 2023, 903 for 2022, 874 for 2021 and 1,022 for 2020.
Willmar's 554 arrests in 2025 were down 6.9 percent from 595 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Willmar reported 353 arrests, against 340 in the same months of 2025.
Across Kandiyohi County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 794 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Willmar Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Willmar 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 52 people, down from about 170 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 190 beds, and it ran at 88 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 Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office at kcmn.us/departments/sheriff/departments/jail.php (page title: Welcome to Kandiyohi County, MN), phone 320-214-6700, 400 Benson Ave SW | Willmar, MN 56201, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Willmar
An arrest in Willmar 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 kcmn.us/departments/attorney/index.php).
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 Willmar
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 Willmar police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at willmarmn.gov/departments/willmar_police_department/index.php (page title: Willmar Police Department), phone 320-235-3100, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 320-214-6700.
- 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 Kandiyohi County guide covers every agency in the county: Kandiyohi County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Willmar each year?
Willmar reported 554 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Willmar?
Ask the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office at 320-214-6700; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at kcmn.us.
Where are people arrested in Willmar booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Willmar?
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 Willmar?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Willmar police for its own arrests, the Kandiyohi 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 Willmar 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.