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.
Mower County, Minnesota, has about 41,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mower County Sheriff's Office and one city agency. 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 Mower 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: Mower County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mower County
The Mower County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mower County. It reported 467 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Mower County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Austin, 26,690 residents: 880 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 Mower 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.
- Austin: 880 for 2025, 962 for 2024, 834 for 2023, 973 for 2022, 1,069 for 2021 and 1,301 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Mower County Sheriff's Office: 467 for 2025, 703 for 2024, 768 for 2023, 600 for 2022, 562 for 2021 and 808 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,347 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,347 in 2025 against 1,665 in 2024, down 19 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 820 arrests, against 891 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mower County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Mower 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 2020 the jail held about 59 people, down from about 72 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 88 beds, and it ran at 82 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 Mower County Sheriff's Office at co.mower.mn.us/175/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriffs Office | Mower County, MN), phone 507-437-9400, Monday through Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Mower County
Whether someone was arrested in Mower 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 co.mower.mn.us/168/Attorneys-Office, phone 507-437-9428).
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 Mower 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 Mower County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 507-437-9400.
- An arrest in Austin: 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, 507-437-9428, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Mower County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the 14 cities in Mower County: Austin. Grand Meadow, Le Roy, Adams, Brownsdale, Racine, Lyle, Rose Creek, Dexter, Waltham, Mapleview, Elkton, Taopi and one more 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 Mower County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Mower County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Austin (26,690)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mower County each year?
Austin reported 880 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,347 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mower County?
Ask the Mower County Sheriff's Office at 507-437-9400; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.mower.mn.us/175/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Mower County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mower County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mower 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 Mower County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mower 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 Mower 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.