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 September 30, 2026.
Petroleum County, Montana, has 525 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Petroleum 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 Petroleum 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: Petroleum County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Petroleum County
The Petroleum County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Petroleum County. It reported 1 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests The Petroleum 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.
- Petroleum County Sheriff's Office: 1 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 1 for 2023, 6 for 2022 and 3 for 2021.
Through June 2026, Petroleum County Sheriff's Office reported 0 arrests, against 1 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Petroleum County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Petroleum 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 2019 the jail held about 1 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 1 beds, and it ran at 38 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 Petroleum County Sheriff's Office at petroleumcountymt.org/departments/sheriffs-department (page title: Sheriff’s Department | Petroleum County Montana), phone (406) 429-6551, 302 East Main, Winnett, MT 59087, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Petroleum County
For Petroleum County the place to look is the case index of the Petroleum 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/Courts/portals).
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 Petroleum 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 Petroleum County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (406) 429-6551.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Petroleum County District Court, through the court records page at courts.mt.gov/Courts/portals.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Petroleum County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Petroleum 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 Petroleum County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Petroleum County each year?
The Petroleum County Sheriff's Office reported 1 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Petroleum County?
Ask the Petroleum County Sheriff's Office at (406) 429-6551; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at petroleumcountymt.org.
Where are people arrested in Petroleum County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Petroleum County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Petroleum 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 Petroleum County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Petroleum 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 Petroleum 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.