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.
Waseca County, Minnesota, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Waseca 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 Waseca 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: Waseca County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Waseca County
The Waseca County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Waseca County. It reported 52 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:
- Waseca, 9,067 residents: 183 arrests reported for 2025.
- Janesville, 2,462 residents: 31 arrests reported for 2025.
- New Richland, 1,189 residents: 29 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 Waseca 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.
- Waseca: 183 for 2025, 187 for 2024, 217 for 2023, 206 for 2022, 272 for 2021 and 201 for 2020.
- Waseca County Sheriff's Office: 52 for 2025, 69 for 2024, 60 for 2023, 91 for 2022, 122 for 2021 and 128 for 2020.
- Janesville: 31 for 2025, 31 for 2024, 15 for 2023, 32 for 2022, 37 for 2021 and 31 for 2020.
- New Richland: 29 for 2025, 31 for 2024, 15 for 2023, 18 for 2022, 8 for 2021 and 20 for 2020.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 295 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 295 in 2025 against 318 in 2024, down 7.2 percent.
Through September 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 225 arrests, against 196 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Waseca County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Waseca 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 3 people, down from about 14 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 26 beds, and it ran at 54 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Waseca County Sheriff's Office at wasecacounty.gov/132/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Waseca County, MN), phone (507) 835-0510, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Waseca County
Whether someone was arrested in Waseca County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: 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 wasecacounty.gov/106/Attorneys-Office, phone (507) 835-0520).
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 Waseca 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 Waseca County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (507) 835-0510.
- An arrest in Waseca, Janesville or New Richland: 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, (507) 835-0520, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Waseca County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the four cities in Waseca County: Waseca, Janesville and New Richland. Waldorf 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 Waseca County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Waseca County each year?
Waseca reported 183 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 295 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Waseca County?
Ask the Waseca County Sheriff's Office at (507) 835-0510; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at wasecacounty.gov/132/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Waseca County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Waseca County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Waseca 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 Waseca County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Waseca 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 Waseca 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.