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.
Otter Tail County, Minnesota, has about 61,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office and seven 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 Otter Tail 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: Otter Tail County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Otter Tail County
The Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Otter Tail County. It reported 258 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside seven 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:
- Fergus Falls, 14,258 residents: 415 arrests reported for 2025.
- Perham, 3,708 residents: 27 arrests reported for 2024.
- Pelican Rapids, 2,594 residents: 7 arrests reported for 2025.
- New York Mills, 1,481 residents: 8 arrests reported for 2025.
- Parkers Prairie, 1,029 residents: 7 arrests reported for 2025.
- Battle Lake, 914 residents: 6 arrests reported for 2025.
- Henning, 857 residents: 2 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 Wadena Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Otter Tail County, so its arrests are not broken out for Otter Tail County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Otter Tail 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.
- Fergus Falls: 415 for 2025, 388 for 2024, 437 for 2023, 412 for 2022, 506 for 2021 and 469 for 2020.
- Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office: 258 for 2025, 373 for 2024, 377 for 2023, 313 for 2022, 382 for 2021 and 512 for 2020.
- New York Mills: 8 for 2025, 13 for 2024, 16 for 2020 and 21 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Parkers Prairie: 7 for 2025, 10 for 2024, 4 for 2022 and 5 for 2020; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
- Pelican Rapids: 7 for 2025, 11 for 2024, 17 for 2023, 16 for 2022, 28 for 2021 and 40 for 2020.
- Battle Lake: 6 for 2025, 15 for 2024, 6 for 2020 and 9 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Henning: 2 for 2025, 4 for 2024, 4 for 2023, 0 for 2022 and 3 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Perham: 27 for 2024, 38 for 2023, 46 for 2020 and 50 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 703 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 703 in 2025 against 814 in 2024, down 14 percent.
Perham reported only part of 2025 (10 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Otter Tail County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Otter Tail 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 2023 the jail held about 46 people, down from about 80 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 111 beds, and it ran at 41 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 Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office at ottertailcounty.gov/public-safety-law/detention/jail-in-custody-list (page title: Jail In Custody List | Otter Tail County, MN), phone 218-998-8555, 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 Otter Tail County
Whether someone was arrested in Otter Tail County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Otter Tail 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 ottertailcounty.gov/department/county-attorney, phone 218-998-8400).
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 Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 218-998-8555.
- An arrest in Fergus Falls, Perham, Pelican Rapids, New York Mills, Parkers Prairie, Battle Lake or another of the cities listed above: 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, 218-998-8400, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at ottertailcounty.gov (page title: Data and Records Request | Otter Tail County, MN).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Otter Tail County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for seven of the 20 cities in Otter Tail County: Fergus Falls, Perham, Pelican Rapids, New York Mills, Parkers Prairie, Battle Lake and Henning. Ottertail, Underwood, Vergas, Deer Creek, Dalton, Bluffton, Dent, Elizabeth, Erhard, Richville, Clitherall, Vining 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 Otter Tail County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Otter Tail County each year?
Fergus Falls reported 415 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 703 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Otter Tail County?
Look on the custody page of the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office at ottertailcounty.gov, or call 218-998-8555. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Otter Tail County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Otter Tail 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 ottertailcounty.gov.
Is this the official Otter Tail 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.