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.
Sherburne County, Minnesota, has about 103,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Sherburne 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: Sherburne County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Sherburne County
The Sherburne County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Sherburne County. It reported 516 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Elk River, 27,606 residents: 403 arrests reported for 2025.
- Big Lake, 12,855 residents: 184 arrests reported for 2025.
- Becker, 5,252 residents: 74 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 Princeton Police Department and the St. Cloud Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Sherburne County, so their arrests are not broken out for Sherburne County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Sherburne 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.
- Sherburne County Sheriff's Office: 516 for 2025, 515 for 2024, 473 for 2023, 720 for 2022, 571 for 2021 and 584 for 2020.
- Elk River: 403 for 2025, 379 for 2024, 477 for 2023, 615 for 2022, 704 for 2021 and 502 for 2020.
- Big Lake: 184 for 2025, 124 for 2024, 141 for 2023, 162 for 2022, 354 for 2021 and 654 for 2020.
- Becker: 74 for 2025, 64 for 2024, 110 for 2023, 133 for 2022, 192 for 2021 and 249 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,177 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,177 in 2025 against 1,082 in 2024, up 8.8 percent.
Through September 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 406 arrests, against 584 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Sherburne County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Sherburne 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 480 people, down from about 630 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 732 beds, and it ran at 66 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 Sherburne County Sheriff's Office at co.sherburne.mn.us/903/Inmate-Search (page title: Inmate Search | Sherburne County, MN), 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 Sherburne County
An arrest in Sherburne County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Sherburne 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.sherburne.mn.us/282/County-Attorney, phone 763-765-4725).
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 Sherburne 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 Sherburne County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Elk River, Big Lake or Becker: 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, 763-765-4725, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Sherburne County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the five cities in Sherburne County: Elk River, Big Lake and Becker. Zimmerman and Clear Lake 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 Sherburne County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Sherburne County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Elk River (27,606)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Sherburne County each year?
The Sherburne County Sheriff's Office reported 516 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,177 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Sherburne County?
Look on the custody page of the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office at co.sherburne.mn.us/903/Inmate-Search. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Sherburne County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Sherburne 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 Sherburne County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sherburne 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 Sherburne 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.