Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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.
Benton County, Minnesota, has about 42,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Benton County Sheriff's Office and three city agencies. An arrest 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 Benton County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Benton County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Benton County
The Benton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Benton County. It reported 114 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Benton County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Sauk Rapids, 13,832 residents: 371 arrests reported for 2025.
- Foley, 2,666 residents: 9 arrests reported for 2025.
- Rice, 2,207 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2024.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The Sartell Police Department, the Royalton Police Department and the St. Cloud Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Benton County, so their arrests are not broken out for Benton County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Benton County
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.
- Sauk Rapids: 371 for 2025, 339 for 2024, 234 for 2023, 204 for 2022, 348 for 2021 and 323 for 2020.
- Benton County Sheriff's Office: 114 for 2025, 122 for 2024, 155 for 2023, 144 for 2022, 200 for 2021 and 245 for 2020.
- Foley: 9 for 2025, 22 for 2024, 23 for 2023, 13 for 2022, 15 for 2021 and 20 for 2020.
- Rice: 1 for 2024, 3 for 2023, 3 for 2022, 5 for 2021 and 0 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 494 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 494 in 2025 against 483 in 2024, up 2.3 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 158 arrests, against 309 in the same months of 2025.
Rice reported only part of 2025 (9 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Benton County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Benton County 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 2020 the jail held about 35 people, down from about 57 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 102 beds, and it ran at 56 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 Benton County Sheriff's Office at bentoncountymn.gov/QuickLinks.aspx?CID=15 (page title: Quick Links, Sheriff's Office), 581 Highway 23 Foley, MN 56329, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Benton County
For Benton County the place to look is 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 Benton County
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 Benton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Sauk Rapids, Foley or Rice: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Benton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the four cities in Benton County: Sauk Rapids, Foley and Rice. Gilman has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Benton County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Benton County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Sauk Rapids (13,832)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Benton County each year?
Sauk Rapids reported 371 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 494 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Benton County?
Ask the Benton County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bentoncountymn.gov/QuickLinks.aspx?CID=15.
Where are people arrested in Benton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Benton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Benton County?
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 Benton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Benton County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act the answer is due promptly, within a reasonable time.
Is this the official Benton County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.