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 30, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, has about 9,400 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Yellow Medicine 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: Yellow Medicine County public records, Minnesota arrest records, Minnesota inmate search and Minnesota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Yellow Medicine County
The Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Yellow Medicine County. It reported 22 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Granite Falls, 2,678 residents: 40 arrests reported for 2025.
- Canby, 1,664 residents: 2 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 Yellow Medicine 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.
- Granite Falls: 40 for 2025, 66 for 2024, 72 for 2023, 79 for 2022, 121 for 2021 and 189 for 2020.
- Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Office: 22 for 2025, 56 for 2024, 70 for 2023, 83 for 2022, 43 for 2021 and 21 for 2020.
- Canby: 2 for 2025, 3 for 2024, 3 for 2023, 5 for 2022, 11 for 2021 and 2 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 64 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 64 in 2025 against 125 in 2024, down 49 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 49 arrests, against 42 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Yellow Medicine County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Yellow Medicine 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 2021 the jail held about 12 people, down from about 17 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 40 beds, and it ran at 42 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Yellow Medicine County
An arrest in Yellow Medicine County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: 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.ym.mn.gov/attorney, phone 320-564-5832).
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 Yellow Medicine 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 Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Granite Falls or Canby: 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, 320-564-5832, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Cities in Yellow Medicine County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the nine cities in Yellow Medicine County: Granite Falls and Canby. Clarkfield, Wood Lake, Hanley Falls, Echo, Porter, St. Leo and Hazel Run 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 Yellow Medicine County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Yellow Medicine County each year?
Granite Falls reported 40 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 64 between them.
Where are people arrested in Yellow Medicine County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Yellow Medicine 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 Yellow Medicine County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Yellow Medicine 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 Yellow Medicine 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.