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.
Olmsted County, Minnesota, has about 166,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and one state 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 Olmsted 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: Olmsted County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Olmsted County
The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Olmsted County. It reported 414 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Olmsted County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Rochester, 123,624 residents: 2,900 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.
The Chatfield Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Olmsted County, so its arrests are not broken out for Olmsted County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Olmsted County: the State Patrol at Rochester (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Olmsted 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.
- Rochester: 2,900 for 2025, 3,550 for 2024, 3,656 for 2023, 3,312 for 2022, 2,900 for 2021 and 2,873 for 2020.
- Olmsted County Sheriff's Office: 414 for 2025, 526 for 2024, 480 for 2023, 536 for 2022, 452 for 2021 and 442 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,314 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,314 in 2025 against 4,076 in 2024, down 19 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,058 arrests, against 2,141 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Olmsted County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Olmsted 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 2023 the jail held about 110 people, down from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 292 beds, and it ran at 38 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 Olmsted County Sheriff's Office at olmstedcounty.gov/residents/public-safety-law-enforcement/active-wa... (page title: Who is in Custody? | Olmsted County, MN), phone 507-328-6790, 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 Olmsted County
An arrest in Olmsted County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Olmsted 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 Olmsted 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 Olmsted County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 507-328-6790.
- An arrest in Rochester: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the State Patrol at Rochester: the records office of the agency involved.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at olmstedcounty.gov (page title: Data Practice Request | Olmsted County, MN).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Olmsted County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the six cities in Olmsted County: Rochester. Stewartville, Byron, Oronoco, Eyota and Dover 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 Olmsted County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Olmsted County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Rochester (123,624)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Olmsted County each year?
Rochester reported 2,900 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,314 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Olmsted County?
Look on the custody page of the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office at olmstedcounty.gov, or call 507-328-6790. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Olmsted County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Olmsted 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 Olmsted County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Olmsted 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 olmstedcounty.gov.
Is this the official Olmsted 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.