SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Scott County, Minnesota, has about 157,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Scott 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 Scott 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: Scott County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Scott County

The Scott County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Scott County. It reported 72 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:

  • Shakopee, 48,401 residents: 1,346 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Savage, 32,896 residents: 513 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Prior Lake, 28,018 residents: 726 arrests reported for 2025.
  • New Prague, 8,235 residents: 99 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Belle Plaine, 7,444 residents: 173 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Jordan, 6,831 residents: 119 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Elko New Market, 5,193 residents: 10 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 Scott 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.

  • Shakopee: 1,346 for 2025, 1,127 for 2024, 1,128 for 2023, 1,030 for 2022, 1,213 for 2021 and 2,093 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
  • Prior Lake: 726 for 2025, 682 for 2024, 869 for 2023, 921 for 2022, 1,206 for 2021 and 1,336 for 2020.
  • Savage: 513 for 2025, 593 for 2024, 607 for 2023, 489 for 2022, 390 for 2021 and 362 for 2020.
  • Belle Plaine: 173 for 2025, 167 for 2024, 161 for 2023, 145 for 2022, 185 for 2021 and 245 for 2020.
  • Jordan: 119 for 2025, 130 for 2024, 157 for 2023, 157 for 2022, 166 for 2021 and 291 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
  • New Prague: 99 for 2025, 115 for 2024, 119 for 2023, 169 for 2022, 144 for 2021 and 223 for 2020.
  • Scott County Sheriff's Office: 72 for 2025, 77 for 2024, 79 for 2023, 129 for 2022, 160 for 2021 and 224 for 2020.
  • Elko New Market: 10 for 2025, 20 for 2024, 38 for 2022, 85 for 2021, 42 for 2020 and 28 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.

Together, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,058 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,058 in 2025 against 2,911 in 2024, up 5 percent.

Through September 2026, the seven agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,329 arrests, against 2,242 in the same months of 2025.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Scott County Are Held

The county jail is where a person arrested in Scott 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 110 people, down from about 150 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 210 beds, and it ran at 51 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 Scott County Sheriff's Office at scottcountymn.gov/1583/Jail-Roster (page title: Jail Roster | Scott County, MN), phone 952-496-8314, 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 Scott County

Whether someone was arrested in Scott County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Scott 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 scottcountymn.gov/2329/County-Attorney, phone 952-496-8240).

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 Scott 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 Scott County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 952-496-8314.
  • An arrest in Shakopee, Savage, Prior Lake, New Prague, Belle Plaine, Jordan or another of the cities listed above: 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, 952-496-8240, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at scottcountymn.gov/2216/Request-Data (page title: Request Data | Scott County, MN).
  • Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Cities in Scott County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for seven of the eight cities in Scott County: Shakopee, Savage, Prior Lake, New Prague, Belle Plaine, Jordan and Elko New Market. Credit River has 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 Scott County District Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Scott County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Scott County each year?

Shakopee reported 1,346 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the eight agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,058 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Scott County?

Look on the custody page of the Scott County Sheriff's Office at scottcountymn.gov/1583/Jail-Roster, or call 952-496-8314. It covers people booked into the county jail.

Where are people arrested in Scott County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Scott County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Scott 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 Scott County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Scott 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 scottcountymn.gov/2216/Request-Data.

Is this the official Scott 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.