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.
Silver Bow County, Montana, has about 36,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Butte-Silver Bow 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 Silver Bow 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: Silver Bow County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Silver Bow County
The Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Silver Bow County. It reported 1,158 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests The Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff's Office: 1,158 for 2025, 1,084 for 2024, 946 for 2022, 841 for 2021, 706 for 2020 and 1,274 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
The Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff's Office's 1,158 arrests in 2025 were up 6.8 percent from 1,084 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff's Office reported 691 arrests, against 741 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Silver Bow County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Silver Bow 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 2021 the jail held about 89 people, down from about 100 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Silver Bow County
An arrest in Silver Bow County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Silver Bow 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); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.silverbow.mt.us/167/County-Attorney, phone 800-666-6899).
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 Silver Bow County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 800-666-6899, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Silver Bow County District Court, through the court records page at courts.mt.gov/Courts/portals.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at co.silverbow.mt.us (page title: BUTTE CITY COURT REQUEST FOR PUBLIC RECORDS).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Silver Bow County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Silver Bow 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 Silver Bow County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Silver Bow County each year?
The Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff's Office reported 1,158 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Silver Bow County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Silver Bow 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 Silver Bow County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Butte-Silver Bow 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at co.silverbow.mt.us.
Is this the official Silver Bow 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.