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.
Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, has about 28,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office and four 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 Mille Lacs 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: Mille Lacs County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mille Lacs County
The Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mille Lacs County. It reported 407 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Mille Lacs County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Princeton, 5,329 residents: 174 arrests reported for 2025.
- Milaca, 3,060 residents: 62 arrests reported for 2025.
- Onamia, 830 residents: 13 arrests reported for 2024.
- Isle, 827 residents: 43 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 Mille Lacs 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.
- Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office: 407 for 2025, 477 for 2024, 457 for 2023, 466 for 2022, 325 for 2021 and 898 for 2020.
- Princeton: 174 for 2025, 165 for 2024, 193 for 2023, 196 for 2022, 189 for 2021 and 160 for 2020.
- Milaca: 62 for 2025, 41 for 2024, 37 for 2023, 45 for 2022, 43 for 2021 and 42 for 2020.
- Isle: 43 for 2025, 46 for 2024, 51 for 2023, 55 for 2022, 66 for 2021 and 81 for 2020.
- Onamia: 13 for 2024, 9 for 2023, 46 for 2022, 88 for 2021, 108 for 2020 and 114 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 686 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 686 in 2025 against 729 in 2024, down 5.9 percent.
Through August 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 273 arrests, against 474 in the same months of 2025.
Onamia reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mille Lacs County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Mille Lacs 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 43 people, down from about 72 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 149 beds, and it ran at 48 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 Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office at incustody.co.mille-lacs.mn.us/InmateLocator (page title: Mille Lacs County | Inmate Locator), 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 Mille Lacs County
An arrest in Mille Lacs County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Mille Lacs 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 millelacs.mn.gov/1227/Attorneys-Office, phone 320-983-8305).
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 Mille Lacs 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 Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Princeton, Milaca, Onamia or Isle: 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, 320-983-8305, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Mille Lacs County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the eight cities in Mille Lacs County: Princeton, Milaca, Onamia and Isle. Foreston, Wahkon, Pease and Bock 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 Mille Lacs County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mille Lacs County each year?
The Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office reported 407 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 686 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mille Lacs County?
Look on the custody page of the Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office at incustody.co.mille-lacs.mn.us/InmateLocator. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Mille Lacs County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mille Lacs 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 Mille Lacs County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mille Lacs 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 Mille Lacs 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.