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.
Watonwan County, Minnesota, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Watonwan County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Watonwan 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: Watonwan County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Watonwan County
The Watonwan County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Watonwan County. It reported 72 arrests for 2025.
One city in Watonwan County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- St. James, 4,750 residents: 101 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 Watonwan 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.
- St. James: 101 for 2025, 106 for 2024, 126 for 2023, 136 for 2022, 123 for 2021 and 162 for 2020.
- Watonwan County Sheriff's Office: 72 for 2025, 86 for 2024, 126 for 2023, 119 for 2022, 70 for 2021 and 106 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 173 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 173 in 2025 against 192 in 2024, down 9.9 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Watonwan County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Watonwan 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 11 people, up from about 10 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 20 beds, and it ran at 50 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 Watonwan County Sheriff's Office at watonwancountymn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/67/Jail-Roster (page title: Page 1 of 2 Watonwan County Sheriff's Office Watonwan Internet Jail Roster), 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 Watonwan County
Whether someone was arrested in Watonwan County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Watonwan 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 watonwancountymn.gov/115/Attorney, phone 507-375-3373).
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 Watonwan 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 Watonwan County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in St. James: 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, 507-375-3373, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Watonwan County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the eight cities in Watonwan County: St. James. Madelia, Butterfield, Lewisville, Odin, Ormsby, Darfur and La Salle 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 Watonwan County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Watonwan County each year?
St. James reported 101 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 173 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Watonwan County?
Look on the custody page of the Watonwan County Sheriff's Office at watonwancountymn.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Watonwan County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Watonwan County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Watonwan 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 Watonwan County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Watonwan 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 Watonwan 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.