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.
Freeborn County, Minnesota, has about 30,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Freeborn 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 Freeborn 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: Freeborn County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Freeborn County
The Freeborn County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Freeborn County. It reported 176 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Albert Lea, 18,159 residents: 653 arrests reported for 2025.
- Alden, 575 residents: 1 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 Freeborn 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.
- Albert Lea: 653 for 2025, 657 for 2024, 866 for 2023, 851 for 2022, 731 for 2021 and 801 for 2020.
- Freeborn County Sheriff's Office: 176 for 2025, 149 for 2024, 179 for 2023, 201 for 2022, 224 for 2021 and 190 for 2020.
- Alden: 1 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 830 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 829 in 2025 against 806 in 2024, up 2.9 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 511 arrests, against 523 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Freeborn County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Freeborn 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 23 people, down from about 100 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 133 beds, and it ran at 77 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 Freeborn County Sheriff's Office at freeborncountymn.gov/438/Jail-Roster (page title: Jail Roster | Freeborn 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 Freeborn County
An arrest in Freeborn County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Freeborn 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.
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 Freeborn 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 Freeborn County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Albert Lea or Alden: 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 Freeborn County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the 14 cities in Freeborn County: Albert Lea and Alden. Clarks Grove, Glenville, Geneva, Emmons, Hartland, Hollandale, Freeborn, Hayward, Conger, Twin Lakes, Manchester and Myrtle 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 Freeborn County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Freeborn County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Albert Lea (18,159)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Freeborn County each year?
Albert Lea reported 653 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 830 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Freeborn County?
Look on the custody page of the Freeborn County Sheriff's Office at freeborncountymn.gov/438/Jail-Roster. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Freeborn County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Freeborn County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Freeborn 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 Freeborn County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Freeborn 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 Freeborn 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.