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 on September 23, 2026.

About this guide

Stearns County, Minnesota, has about 164,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Stearns County Sheriff's Office, 11 city agencies 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 Stearns 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: Stearns County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Stearns County

The Stearns County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Stearns County. It reported 496 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.

Arrests inside 11 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:

  • St. Cloud, 72,145 residents: 2,647 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Sartell, 19,979 residents: 400 arrests reported for 2023.
  • Waite Park, 8,504 residents: 401 arrests reported for 2025.
  • St. Joseph, 6,992 residents: 74 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Sauk Centre, 4,682 residents: 102 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Cold Spring, 4,326 residents: 97 arrests reported for 2024.
  • Melrose, 3,911 residents: 15 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Albany, 2,874 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Paynesville, 2,586 residents: 10 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Avon, 1,742 residents: 4 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Belgrade, 742 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.

The Eden Valley Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Stearns County, so its arrests are not broken out for Stearns County here.

The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Stearns County: the State Patrol at St. Cloud (state police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Stearns 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.

  • St. Cloud: 2,647 for 2025, 3,424 for 2024, 3,636 for 2023, 3,611 for 2022, 3,181 for 2021 and 4,499 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
  • Waite Park: 401 for 2025, 367 for 2024, 744 for 2023, 621 for 2022, 667 for 2021 and 743 for 2020.
  • Sauk Centre: 102 for 2025, 158 for 2024, 166 for 2023, 120 for 2022, 146 for 2021 and 183 for 2020.
  • St. Joseph: 74 for 2025, 145 for 2024, 167 for 2023, 112 for 2022, 211 for 2021 and 108 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
  • Melrose: 15 for 2025, 12 for 2024, 28 for 2023, 42 for 2022, 44 for 2021 and 110 for 2020.
  • Paynesville: 10 for 2025, 24 for 2024, 41 for 2023, 57 for 2022, 43 for 2021 and 13 for 2020.
  • Avon: 4 for 2025, 18 for 2024, 29 for 2023, 35 for 2022, 60 for 2021 and 79 for 2020.
  • Belgrade: 4 for 2025, 16 for 2024, 22 for 2023, 26 for 2022, 24 for 2021 and 70 for 2020.
  • Albany: 3 for 2025, 19 for 2024, 14 for 2023, 12 for 2022, 10 for 2020 and 16 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Stearns County Sheriff's Office: 496 for 2024, 636 for 2023, 813 for 2022, 995 for 2021, 1,062 for 2020 and 858 for 2019.
  • Sartell: 400 for 2023, 455 for 2022, 363 for 2021, 314 for 2020 and 426 for 2019.
  • Cold Spring: 97 for 2024, 121 for 2023, 151 for 2022, 75 for 2021 and 92 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.

Together, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,260 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,260 in 2025 against 4,183 in 2024, down 22 percent.

Through August 2026, the seven agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,456 arrests, against 2,261 in the same months of 2025.

Cold Spring, Stearns County Sheriff's Office and Sartell reported only part of 2025 (11 months, 10 months and 10 months) and are left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Stearns County Are Held

The county jail is where a person arrested in Stearns 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 2019 the jail held about 130 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 151 beds, and it ran at 87 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 Stearns County Sheriff's Office at jailroster.stearnscountymn.gov/Current?page=1&sortOrder=booking_asc (page title: Stearns County, MN | Jail Roster Current Inmate Search), phone 320-259-3760, 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 Stearns County

An arrest in Stearns County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Stearns County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Stearns County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at stearnscountymn.gov/court-records-research-searches); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at stearnscountymn.gov/attorneys-office).

Statewide, Minnesota Court Records Online is the Minnesota Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.

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 Stearns 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 Stearns County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 320-259-3760.
  • An arrest in St. Cloud, Sartell, Waite Park, St. Joseph, Sauk Centre, Cold Spring 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.
  • An arrest by the State Patrol at St. Cloud: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Stearns County District Court, through the court records page at stearnscountymn.gov.
  • Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Cities in Stearns County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 11 of the 29 cities in Stearns County: St. Cloud, Sartell, Waite Park, St. Joseph, Sauk Centre, Cold Spring, Melrose, Albany, Paynesville, Avon and Belgrade. St. Augusta, Rockville, Richmond, Kimball, St. Stephen, Holdingford, Freeport, Brooten, New Munich, St. Martin, Elrosa, Greenwald and six 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 Stearns County District Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Stearns 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 Stearns County each year?

St. Cloud reported 2,647 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the nine agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,260 between them.

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

Look on the custody page of the Stearns County Sheriff's Office at jailroster.stearnscountymn.gov, or call 320-259-3760. It covers people booked into the county jail.

Where are people arrested in Stearns County booked?

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

Are arrest records public in Stearns 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 Stearns County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Stearns 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 Stearns 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.