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.
Dawson County, Montana, has about 8,700 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Dawson 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 Dawson 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: Dawson County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Dawson County
The Dawson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Dawson County. It reported 39 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Dawson County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Glendive, 4,760 residents: 92 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 Dawson 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.
- Glendive: 92 for 2025, 98 for 2024, 211 for 2021, 177 for 2020 and 193 for 2019; 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Dawson County Sheriff's Office: 39 for 2025, 23 for 2024, 26 for 2023, 32 for 2022, 103 for 2021 and 124 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 131 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 131 in 2025 against 121 in 2024, up 8.3 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 83 arrests, against 78 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dawson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dawson 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 2023 the jail held about 20 people, down from about 160 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 22 beds, and it ran at 92 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 Dawson County Sheriff's Office at dawsonmt.gov/departments/sheriff/index.php (page title: Welcome to Dawson County, MT), phone (406) 377-5291, 440 Colorado Boulevard Glendive, MT 59330, 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 Dawson County
An arrest in Dawson County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Dawson County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.mt.gov); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at dawsonmt.gov/departments/county_attorney/index.php, phone (406) 377-2532).
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 Dawson 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 Dawson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (406) 377-5291.
- An arrest in Glendive: 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) 377-2532, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Dawson County District Court, through the court records page at courts.mt.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Dawson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Dawson County: Glendive. Richey 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 Dawson County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dawson County each year?
Glendive reported 92 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 131 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dawson County?
Ask the Dawson County Sheriff's Office at (406) 377-5291; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dawsonmt.gov/departments/sheriff/index.php.
Where are people arrested in Dawson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Dawson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dawson 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 Dawson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dawson 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 Dawson 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.