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.
Gallatin County, Montana, has about 127,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, four city agencies and one campus 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 Gallatin 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: Gallatin County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Gallatin County
The Gallatin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Gallatin County. It reported 647 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Gallatin County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Bozeman, 57,894 residents: 1,433 arrests reported for 2025.
- Belgrade, 12,741 residents: 409 arrests reported for 2025.
- Manhattan, 2,068 residents: 25 arrests reported for 2025.
- West Yellowstone, 1,202 residents: 32 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Gallatin County: Montana State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Gallatin 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.
- Bozeman: 1,433 for 2025, 1,453 for 2024, 1,401 for 2023, 1,418 for 2022, 1,322 for 2021 and 1,414 for 2020.
- Gallatin County Sheriff's Office: 647 for 2025, 571 for 2024, 536 for 2023, 350 for 2022, 415 for 2021 and 456 for 2020.
- Belgrade: 409 for 2025, 337 for 2024, 274 for 2023, 208 for 2022, 206 for 2021 and 209 for 2020.
- West Yellowstone: 32 for 2025, 33 for 2024, 49 for 2023, 35 for 2022, 34 for 2021 and 47 for 2020.
- Manhattan: 25 for 2025, 12 for 2024, 26 for 2023, 12 for 2022, 24 for 2021 and 24 for 2020.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,546 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,546 in 2025 against 2,406 in 2024, up 5.8 percent.
Through August 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 534 arrests, against 809 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Gallatin County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Gallatin 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 140 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 170 beds, and it ran at 81 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Gallatin County
For Gallatin County the place to look is the case index of the Gallatin County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at gallatinmt.gov/272/Clerk-of-District-Court, phone 406-582-2165).
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 Gallatin 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 Gallatin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Bozeman, Belgrade, Manhattan or West Yellowstone: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Montana State University: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Gallatin County District Court, through the court records page at gallatinmt.gov/272/Clerk-of-District-Court, phone 406-582-2165.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Gallatin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the five cities in Gallatin County: Bozeman, Belgrade, Manhattan and West Yellowstone. Three Forks 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 Gallatin County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Gallatin County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Gallatin County each year?
Bozeman reported 1,433 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,546 between them.
Where are people arrested in Gallatin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Gallatin 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 Gallatin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Gallatin 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 Gallatin 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.