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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Blaine County, Montana, has about 6,900 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Blaine 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 Blaine 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: Blaine County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Blaine County
The Blaine County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Blaine County. It reported 12 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Blaine County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Chinook, 1,162 residents: 6 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 Blaine 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.
- Blaine County Sheriff's Office: 12 for 2025, 21 for 2024, 20 for 2023, 7 for 2021, 63 for 2020 and 64 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Chinook: 6 for 2025, 14 for 2024, 31 for 2023, 2 for 2021, 34 for 2020 and 6 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 18 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 18 in 2025 against 35 in 2024.
Through April 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 11 arrests, against 3 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Blaine County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Blaine 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.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Montana Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at offendersearch.mt.gov/conweb.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Blaine County
An arrest in Blaine County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Blaine County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at blainecounty-mt.gov/district-court, phone 406-357-3230); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at blainecounty-mt.gov/attorney, phone 406-357-3220).
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 Blaine 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 Blaine County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Chinook: 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, 406-357-3220, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Blaine County District Court, through the court records page at blainecounty-mt.gov/district-court, phone 406-357-3230.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Blaine County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Blaine County: Chinook. Harlem 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 Blaine County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Blaine County each year?
The Blaine County Sheriff's Office reported 12 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 18 between them.
Where are people arrested in Blaine County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Blaine County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Blaine 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 Blaine County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Blaine 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 Blaine 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.