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 2, 2026.
Carbon County, Montana, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Carbon 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 Carbon 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: Carbon County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Carbon County
The Carbon County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Carbon County. It reported 30 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:
- Red Lodge, 2,686 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bridger, 716 residents: 0 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 Carbon 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.
- Carbon County Sheriff's Office: 30 for 2025, 47 for 2024, 32 for 2023, 43 for 2022, 32 for 2021 and 24 for 2020.
- Red Lodge: 3 for 2025, 7 for 2024, 17 for 2023, 15 for 2022, 14 for 2021 and 22 for 2020.
- Bridger: 0 for 2025, 1 for 2024, 1 for 2023, 0 for 2020 and 0 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 33 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 33 in 2025 against 55 in 2024, down 40 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 27 arrests, against 25 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Carbon County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Carbon 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 27 people, down from about 28 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 23 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 Carbon County Sheriff's Office at carboncountysheriff.com (page title: Carbon County Sheriff's), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Carbon County
An arrest in Carbon County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Carbon County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at carbonmt.gov/district-court, phone (406) 446-1225); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at carbonmt.gov/county-attorney, phone (406) 446-3300).
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 Carbon 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 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 Carbon County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Red Lodge or Bridger: 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) 446-3300, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Carbon County District Court, through the court records page at carbonmt.gov/district-court, phone (406) 446-1225.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Carbon County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the five cities in Carbon County: Red Lodge and Bridger. Joliet, Fromberg and Bearcreek 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 Carbon County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Carbon County each year?
The Carbon County Sheriff's Office reported 30 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 33 between them.
Where are people arrested in Carbon County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Carbon County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Carbon 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 Carbon County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Carbon 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 Carbon 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.