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.
Morrison County, Minnesota, has about 35,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Morrison 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 Morrison 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: Morrison County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Morrison County
The Morrison County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Morrison County. It reported 196 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Morrison County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Little Falls, 9,206 residents: 282 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pierz, 1,461 residents: 5 arrests reported for 2025.
- Royalton, 1,280 residents: 18 arrests reported for 2025.
- Motley, 686 residents: 4 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 Morrison 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.
- Little Falls: 282 for 2025, 250 for 2024, 295 for 2023, 265 for 2022, 266 for 2021 and 212 for 2020.
- Morrison County Sheriff's Office: 196 for 2025, 193 for 2024, 245 for 2023, 250 for 2022, 221 for 2021 and 240 for 2020.
- Royalton: 18 for 2025, 7 for 2024, 8 for 2023, 21 for 2022, 14 for 2021 and 17 for 2020.
- Pierz: 5 for 2025, 1 for 2024, 1 for 2023, 9 for 2022, 15 for 2021 and 22 for 2020.
- Motley: 4 for 2025, 6 for 2024, 16 for 2023, 22 for 2022, 19 for 2021 and 24 for 2020.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 505 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 505 in 2025 against 457 in 2024, up 11 percent.
Through August 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 357 arrests, against 342 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Morrison County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Morrison 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 29 people, down from about 50 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 144 beds, and it ran at 35 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 Morrison County Sheriff's Office at morrisoncountymn.gov/173/Jail (page title: Jail | Morrison County, MN), phone 320-632-2673, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Morrison County
Whether someone was arrested in Morrison 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 morrisoncountymn.gov/216/ATTORNEY, phone 320-632-0190).
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 Morrison 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 Morrison County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 320-632-2673.
- An arrest in Little Falls, Pierz, Royalton or Motley: 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, 320-632-0190, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at morrisoncountymn.gov (page title: Form Center, Request for Public Records).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Morrison County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the 16 cities in Morrison County: Little Falls, Pierz, Royalton and Motley. Randall, Upsala, Swanville, Buckman, Bowlus, Sobieski, Flensburg, Lastrup, Harding, Elmdale, Genola and Hillman 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 Morrison County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Morrison County each year?
Little Falls reported 282 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 505 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Morrison County?
Ask the Morrison County Sheriff's Office at 320-632-2673; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at morrisoncountymn.gov/173/Jail.
Where are people arrested in Morrison County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Morrison County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Morrison 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 Morrison County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Morrison 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 morrisoncountymn.gov.
Is this the official Morrison 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.