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.
Richland County, Montana, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Richland 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 Richland 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: Richland County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Richland County
The Richland County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Richland County. It reported 27 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Richland County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Sidney, 6,031 residents: 206 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fairview, 854 residents: 39 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 Richland 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.
- Sidney: 206 for 2025, 190 for 2024, 208 for 2023, 263 for 2022, 247 for 2021 and 241 for 2020.
- Fairview: 39 for 2025, 53 for 2024, 22 for 2022, 16 for 2021, 7 for 2020 and 9 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Richland County Sheriff's Office: 27 for 2025, 36 for 2024, 62 for 2023, 56 for 2022, 27 for 2021 and 61 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 272 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 272 in 2025 against 279 in 2024, down 2.5 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Richland County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Richland 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 23 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 39 beds, and it ran at 59 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 Richland County
An arrest in Richland County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Richland 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 richland.org/county-attorney.html, phone 406-433-2505).
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 Richland 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 Richland County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Sidney or Fairview: 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, 406-433-2505, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Richland 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 Richland County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Richland County: Sidney and Fairview.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Richland County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Richland County each year?
Sidney reported 206 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 272 between them.
Where are people arrested in Richland County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Richland County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Richland 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 Richland County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Richland 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 Richland 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.