Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 23, 2026.
Winona County, Minnesota, has about 50,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Minnesota the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the court administrator; the statewide criminal history kept by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Winona County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Winona County public records, Winona County arrest records, Winona County warrants, Winona County court records, Winona County police reports, Minnesota arrest records and Minnesota inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Winona County District Court
A criminal case from Winona County is filed in the Winona County District Court, and the court file, kept by the court administrator, is the record of it that the public may see.
For Winona County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch (page title: Case Search | Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO)), phone (651) 793-2400, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, Minnesota Court Records Online is the Minnesota Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
The Minnesota Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
To see your own record, the route is a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/bca-divisions/criminal-justice-information....
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Winona County
The Winona County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Winona, Goodview, St. Charles and Lewiston keep the arrest records in Winona County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The La Crescent Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Winona County, so its arrests are not broken out for Winona County here.
Together, the three agencies in Winona County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 978 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Winona County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Winona County in 2025
The three agencies in Winona County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 53 violent and 628 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 681 crimes in 2025 against 698 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Winona County public records guide.
The County Attorney for Winona County
Charges in Winona County are filed by the County Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Winona County District Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at winonacounty.gov/166/Attorney (page title: Attorney | Winona County, MN), phone 507-457-6310, 171 W Third Street Winona, MN 55987, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Winona County
Registered sex offenders living in Winona County are listed on the Minnesota Predatory Offender Registry, run by the Minnesota Department of Corrections at mn.gov. Only Level 3 offenders are listed online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Winona County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act a county office must answer a request promptly, within a reasonable time, and it may charge copying, and staff time for requests over 100 pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Winona 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.
Can I search Winona County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us/CaseSearch (page title: Case Search | Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO)). Statewide, Minnesota Court Records Online is the Minnesota Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
How do I get my own Minnesota criminal history?
Through a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Who prosecutes crimes in Winona County?
The County Attorney, reached at 507-457-6310, which files its cases in the Winona County District Court.
Is this the official Winona 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.