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 24, 2026 and October 4, 2026.
Big Horn County, Montana, has about 13,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Big Horn 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 Big Horn 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: Big Horn County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Big Horn County
The Big Horn County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Big Horn County. It reported 142 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Big Horn County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Hardin, 3,719 residents: 312 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 Big Horn 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.
- Hardin: 312 for 2025, 203 for 2023 and 140 for 2022; 2024 is missing months.
- Big Horn County Sheriff's Office: 142 for 2025, 79 for 2024, 135 for 2023, 145 for 2022, 233 for 2021 and 309 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 454 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 142 in 2025 against 79 in 2024, up 80 percent.
Through September 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 210 arrests, against 328 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Big Horn County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Big Horn 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 34 people, down from about 41 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 37 beds, and it ran at 111 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 Big Horn County Sheriff's Office at bighorncountymt.gov/176/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Big Horn County, MT), phone 406-665-9802, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Big Horn County
An arrest in Big Horn County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Big Horn County District Court, kept by the Clerk of District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at bighorncountymt.gov/163/County-Attorney, phone (406) 665-9720).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at bighorncountymt.gov/172/Justice-Court (page title: Justice Court | Big Horn County, MT), phone 800-666-6899, belongs to a lower court, not to the Big Horn County District Court.
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 Big Horn 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 Big Horn County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 406-665-9802.
- An arrest in Hardin: 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) 665-9720, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Big Horn County District Court it is kept by the Clerk of District Court. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at bighorncountymt.gov/172/Justice-Court, phone 800-666-6899, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Big Horn County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Big Horn County: Hardin. Lodge Grass 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 Big Horn County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Big Horn County each year?
Hardin reported 312 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 454 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Big Horn County?
Ask the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office at 406-665-9802; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bighorncountymt.gov/176/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Big Horn County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Big Horn 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 Big Horn County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Big Horn 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 Big Horn 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.