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.
Lewis and Clark County, Montana, has about 75,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lewis and Clark 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 Lewis and Clark 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: Lewis and Clark County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lewis and Clark County
The Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lewis and Clark County. It reported 298 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:
- Helena, 34,729 residents: 1,142 arrests reported for 2025.
- East Helena, 2,239 residents: 21 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 Lewis and Clark 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.
- Helena: 1,142 for 2025, 1,312 for 2024, 1,288 for 2023, 1,131 for 2022, 1,048 for 2021 and 1,256 for 2020.
- Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office: 298 for 2025, 343 for 2024, 386 for 2023, 434 for 2022, 470 for 2021 and 387 for 2020.
- East Helena: 21 for 2025, 28 for 2024, 15 for 2023, 21 for 2021, 43 for 2020 and 38 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,461 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,461 in 2025 against 1,683 in 2024, down 13 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 833 arrests, against 973 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lewis and Clark County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lewis and Clark 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 150 people, up from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 166 beds, and it ran at 93 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 Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office at lccountymt.gov/Sheriff/Detention-Center (page title: Detention Center | Lewis & Clark County), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Lewis and Clark 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 Lewis and Clark 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 Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Helena or East Helena: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Lewis and Clark County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Lewis and Clark County: Helena and East Helena.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Lewis and Clark County District Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Lewis and Clark County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Helena (34,729)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lewis and Clark County each year?
Helena reported 1,142 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,461 between them.
Where are people arrested in Lewis and Clark County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lewis and Clark 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 Lewis and Clark County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lewis and Clark 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 Lewis and Clark 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.