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.
Carver County, Minnesota, has about 113,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Carver County Sheriff's Office and one city agency. 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 Carver 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: Carver County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Carver County
The Carver County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Carver County. It reported 925 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Carver County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Chaska, 30,167 residents: 430 arrests reported for 2025.
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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Carver County
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.
- Carver County Sheriff's Office: 925 for 2025, 1,027 for 2024, 998 for 2023, 1,135 for 2022, 920 for 2021 and 1,070 for 2020.
- Chaska: 430 for 2025, 347 for 2024, 316 for 2023, 345 for 2022, 463 for 2020 and 508 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,355 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,355 in 2025 against 1,374 in 2024, down 1.4 percent.
Through September 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 948 arrests, against 998 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Carver County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Carver 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 2021 the jail held about 26 people, down from about 71 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 111 beds, and it ran at 64 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 Carver County Sheriff's Office at carvercountymn.gov/departments/county-sheriff/jail-services/daily-i... (page title: Daily Inmate Roster | Carver County, MN), 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 Carver County
An arrest in Carver County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Carver 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 carvercountymn.gov/departments/county-attorney/staff-information, phone (952) 361-1500).
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 Carver 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 Carver County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Chaska: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (952) 361-1500, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at carvercountymn.gov (page title: Request for Information | Carver County, MN).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Carver County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the 11 cities in Carver County: Chaska. Chanhassen, Waconia, Victoria, Carver, Watertown, Norwood Young America, Mayer, Cologne, Hamburg and New Germany have 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 Carver County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Carver County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Chaska (30,167)
- Chanhassen (25,746)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Carver County each year?
The Carver County Sheriff's Office reported 925 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,355 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Carver County?
Look on the custody page of the Carver County Sheriff's Office at carvercountymn.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Carver County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Carver County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Carver 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 Carver County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Carver 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at carvercountymn.gov.
Is this the official Carver 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.