Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Billings, Montana, in Yellowstone County, has about 121,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city 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 Yellowstone County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Billings public records, Yellowstone County arrest records, Montana arrest records and Montana inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Billings
The FBI lists Billings with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Billings Police Department. It reported 3,930 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 787 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Yellowstone County: Montana State University at Billings (campus police).
How Many Arrests Billings Reports
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.
- Billings: 3,930 for 2025, 4,133 for 2024, 4,309 for 2023, 3,959 for 2022, 3,870 for 2021 and 3,978 for 2020.
Billings's 3,930 arrests in 2025 were down 4.9 percent from 4,133 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Billings reported 2,806 arrests, against 2,742 in the same months of 2025.
Across Yellowstone County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,825 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Billings Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Billings 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 450 people, down from about 470 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 383 beds, and it ran at 124 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 Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office at yellowstonecountymt.gov/sheriff/detention/dcsearch.asp (page title: Yellowstone County, Montana), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Montana Department of Corrections lists its inmates at offendersearch.mt.gov/conweb.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Billings
An arrest in Billings can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Yellowstone County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at yellowstonecountymt.gov/clerk_court/copies.asp); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at yellowstonecountymt.gov/Coattorney, phone 406-256-2832).
Montana is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the CHOPRS service lets anyone search public criminal history online by name, through the Montana Department of Justice. 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 Billings
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Montana Public Records Act the agency must answer in a timely manner; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the actual cost of fulfilling the request.
- An arrest by the Billings police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at billingsmt.gov/2853/Order-Police-Reports (page title: Order Police Reports | City of Billings, MT), phone (406) 657-8460, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 406-256-2832, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Yellowstone County District Court, through the court records page at yellowstonecountymt.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Yellowstone County guide covers every agency in the county: Yellowstone County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Billings each year?
Billings reported 3,930 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Billings?
Ask the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at yellowstonecountymt.gov.
Where are people arrested in Billings booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Billings?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Montana Department of Justice: the CHOPRS service lets anyone search public criminal history online by name. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Montana Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Billings?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Billings police for its own arrests, the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Montana Public Records Act the answer is due in a timely manner; the statute sets no number of days.
Is this the official Billings website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.