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.
Chouteau County, Montana, has about 5,900 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Chouteau County Sheriff's Office. 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 Chouteau 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: Chouteau County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Chouteau County
The Chouteau County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Chouteau County. It reported 17 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests The Chouteau County Sheriff's Office 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.
- Chouteau County Sheriff's Office: 17 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 15 for 2023, 9 for 2022, 7 for 2021 and 6 for 2020.
Through July 2026, Chouteau County Sheriff's Office reported 9 arrests, against 7 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Chouteau County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Chouteau 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 2019 the jail held about 13 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 21 beds, and it ran at 61 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 Chouteau County Sheriff's Office at chouteaucountysheriff.com (page title: Chouteau County Sheriff's Office), 1215 Washington St, Fort Benton, MT 59442, 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 Chouteau County
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 Chouteau 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 Chouteau County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Chouteau County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Chouteau County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Chouteau County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Chouteau County each year?
The Chouteau County Sheriff's Office reported 17 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Chouteau County?
Ask the Chouteau County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at chouteaucountysheriff.com.
Where are people arrested in Chouteau County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Chouteau County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Chouteau 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 Chouteau County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Chouteau 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 Chouteau 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.