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 on September 24, 2026.
Beaverhead County, Montana, has about 10,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Beaverhead 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 Beaverhead 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: Beaverhead County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Beaverhead County
The Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Beaverhead County. It reported 77 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Beaverhead County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Dillon, 4,242 residents: 173 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 Beaverhead County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Dillon: 173 for 2025, 216 for 2024, 171 for 2023, 130 for 2022 and 265 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office: 77 for 2025, 101 for 2024, 65 for 2023, 24 for 2022, 45 for 2020 and 82 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 250 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 250 in 2025 against 317 in 2024, down 21 percent.
Through June 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 107 arrests, against 112 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Beaverhead County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Beaverhead 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 10 people, up from about 9 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 22 beds, and it ran at 41 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 Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office at beaverheadcountymt.gov/departments/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Beaverhead County), phone (406) 683-3700, 3778 Address 2 South Pacific Street, Suite 16 Dillon, MT 59725, Thursdays from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM, 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 Beaverhead County
Whether someone was arrested in Beaverhead County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Beaverhead County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at beaverheadcountymt.gov/clerk-of-district-court, phone 406-683-3725); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at beaverheadcountymt.gov/county-attorney, phone (406) 683-3700).
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 Beaverhead County
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 Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (406) 683-3700.
- An arrest in Dillon: 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, (406) 683-3700, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Beaverhead County District Court, through the court records page at beaverheadcountymt.gov, phone 406-683-3725.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Beaverhead County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Beaverhead County: Dillon. Lima 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 Beaverhead County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Beaverhead County each year?
Dillon reported 173 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 250 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Beaverhead County?
Ask the Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office at (406) 683-3700; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at beaverheadcountymt.gov/departments/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Beaverhead County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Beaverhead County?
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 Beaverhead County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Beaverhead 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.