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 9, 2026.
Douglas County, Minnesota, has about 40,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Douglas 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: Douglas County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Douglas County
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Douglas County. It reported 258 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Douglas County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Alexandria, 14,914 residents: 352 arrests reported for 2025.
- Osakis, 1,747 residents: 15 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 Douglas 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.
- Alexandria: 352 for 2025, 527 for 2024, 505 for 2023, 505 for 2022, 472 for 2021 and 638 for 2020.
- Douglas County Sheriff's Office: 258 for 2025, 344 for 2024, 249 for 2023, 202 for 2022, 270 for 2021 and 355 for 2020.
- Osakis: 15 for 2025, 21 for 2024, 19 for 2023, 13 for 2022, 14 for 2021 and 18 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 625 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 625 in 2025 against 892 in 2024, down 30 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 326 arrests, against 361 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Douglas County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Douglas 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 29 people, down from about 53 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2021 was 106 beds, and it ran at 28 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 Douglas County Sheriff's Office at dgso.org/index.php/dgso-inmate-reports (page title: DGSO Inmate Reports), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Douglas County
Whether someone was arrested in Douglas County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: 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 douglascountymn.gov/attorneys-office, phone 320-762-3856).
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 Douglas County
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 Douglas County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Alexandria or Osakis: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 320-762-3856, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The other Douglas County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Douglas County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the 11 cities in Douglas County: Alexandria and Osakis. Evansville, Brandon, Carlos, Miltona, Garfield, Kensington, Forada, Nelson and Millerville 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 Douglas County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Douglas County each year?
Alexandria reported 352 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 625 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Douglas County?
Ask the Douglas County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dgso.org/index.php/dgso-inmate-reports.
Where are people arrested in Douglas County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Douglas 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 Douglas County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Douglas 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 Douglas 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.