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 on September 23, 2026.
Clay County, Minnesota, has about 67,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Clay County Sheriff's Office and five 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 Clay 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: Clay County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Clay County
The Clay County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Clay County. It reported 311 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Clay County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Moorhead, 45,726 residents: 597 arrests reported for 2025.
- Dilworth, 4,811 residents: 340 arrests reported for 2025.
- Barnesville, 2,765 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hawley, 2,274 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2025.
- Glyndon, 1,369 residents: 12 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 Clay 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.
- Moorhead: 597 for 2025, 715 for 2024, 790 for 2023, 850 for 2022, 1,028 for 2021 and 1,152 for 2020.
- Dilworth: 340 for 2025, 474 for 2024, 483 for 2023, 370 for 2022, 334 for 2021 and 468 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Clay County Sheriff's Office: 311 for 2025, 339 for 2024, 340 for 2023, 407 for 2022, 571 for 2021 and 458 for 2020.
- Glyndon: 12 for 2025, 30 for 2024, 23 for 2023, 27 for 2022 and 23 for 2021.
- Hawley: 1 for 2025, 9 for 2024, 18 for 2023, 10 for 2022, 18 for 2021 and 17 for 2020.
- Barnesville: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2022, 0 for 2021 and 1 for 2020.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,261 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,261 in 2025 against 1,567 in 2024, down 20 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clay County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Clay County 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 81 people, down from about 110 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 189 beds, and it ran at 59 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Clay County
Whether someone was arrested in Clay County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Clay County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch, phone (651) 793-2400); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at claycountymn.gov/1175/Attorney-Responsibilities).
Statewide, Minnesota Court Records Online is the Minnesota Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
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 Clay 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 Clay County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Moorhead, Dilworth, Barnesville, Hawley or Glyndon: 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 handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Clay County District Court, through the court records page at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch, phone (651) 793-2400.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Clay County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the 11 cities in Clay County: Moorhead, Dilworth, Barnesville, Hawley and Glyndon. Sabin, Ulen, Hitterdal, Felton, Comstock and Georgetown 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 Clay County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Clay County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Moorhead (45,726)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clay County each year?
Moorhead reported 597 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,261 between them.
Where are people arrested in Clay County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clay County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clay 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 Clay County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clay 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 Clay 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.