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.
Wabasha County, Minnesota, has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Wabasha 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 Wabasha 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: Wabasha County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Wabasha County
The Wabasha County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Wabasha County. It reported 50 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Wabasha County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Lake City, 5,306 residents: 109 arrests reported for 2025.
- Plainview, 3,498 residents: 33 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wabasha, 2,598 residents: 77 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 Wabasha 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.
- Lake City: 109 for 2025, 121 for 2024, 93 for 2023, 95 for 2022, 104 for 2021 and 122 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Wabasha: 77 for 2025, 51 for 2024, 101 for 2023, 73 for 2022, 100 for 2021 and 75 for 2020.
- Wabasha County Sheriff's Office: 50 for 2025, 59 for 2024, 67 for 2023, 133 for 2022, 147 for 2021 and 101 for 2020.
- Plainview: 33 for 2025, 51 for 2024, 40 for 2023, 25 for 2022, 23 for 2021 and 38 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 269 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 269 in 2025 against 282 in 2024, down 4.6 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 137 arrests, against 164 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Wabasha County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Wabasha 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 2021 the jail held about 10 people, down from about 20 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 72 beds, and it ran at 28 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 Wabasha County Sheriff's Office at roster.assurances.gov.gh/wabasha-county-jail-roster.html (page title: Wabasha County Jail Roster), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 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 Wabasha County
Whether someone was arrested in Wabasha County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Wabasha 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.wabasha.mn.us/departments/county_attorney/index.php).
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 Wabasha 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 Wabasha County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Lake City, Plainview or Wabasha: 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 handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Wabasha County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the ten cities in Wabasha County: Lake City, Plainview and Wabasha. Elgin, Mazeppa, Kellogg, Zumbro Falls, Millville, Hammond and Minneiska 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 Wabasha County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Wabasha County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Lake City (5,306)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Wabasha County each year?
Lake City reported 109 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 269 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Wabasha County?
Look on the custody page of the Wabasha County Sheriff's Office at roster.assurances.gov.gh. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Wabasha County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Wabasha County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Wabasha 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 Wabasha County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Wabasha 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 Wabasha 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.