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.
Nobles County, Minnesota, has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Nobles 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 Nobles 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: Nobles County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Nobles County
The Nobles County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Nobles County. It reported 63 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:
- Worthington, 13,754 residents: 454 arrests reported for 2025.
- Adrian, 1,198 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 Nobles 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.
- Worthington: 454 for 2025, 516 for 2024, 602 for 2023, 607 for 2022, 454 for 2021 and 358 for 2020.
- Nobles County Sheriff's Office: 63 for 2025, 72 for 2024, 79 for 2023, 99 for 2022, 91 for 2021 and 100 for 2020.
- Adrian: 4 for 2025, 1 for 2024, 0 for 2023, 0 for 2022 and 0 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 521 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 521 in 2025 against 589 in 2024, down 12 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Nobles County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Nobles 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 20 people, down from about 45 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 56 beds, and it ran at 80 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 Nobles County Sheriff's Office at co.nobles.mn.us/departments/sheriff/inmate-listing (page title: Inmate Listing | Nobles County Minnesota), phone (507) 295-5200, Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 27, 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 Nobles County
An arrest in Nobles County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Nobles 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 co.nobles.mn.us/departments/attorney, phone (507) 295-5298).
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 Nobles 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 Nobles County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (507) 295-5200.
- An arrest in Worthington or Adrian: 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) 295-5298, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Nobles County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the 11 cities in Nobles County: Worthington and Adrian. Brewster, Ellsworth, Round Lake, Rushmore, Wilmont, Bigelow, Lismore, Dundee and Kinbrae 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 Nobles County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Nobles County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Worthington (13,754)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Nobles County each year?
Worthington reported 454 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 521 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Nobles County?
Look on the custody page of the Nobles County Sheriff's Office at co.nobles.mn.us, or call (507) 295-5200. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Nobles County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Nobles County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Nobles 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 Nobles County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Nobles 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 Nobles 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.