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.
Stillwater County, Montana, has about 9,400 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Stillwater County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Stillwater 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: Stillwater County public records, Montana arrest records, Montana inmate search and Montana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Stillwater County
The Stillwater County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Stillwater County. It reported 103 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Stillwater County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Columbus, 1,966 residents: 51 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 Stillwater 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.
- Stillwater County Sheriff's Office: 103 for 2025, 86 for 2024, 70 for 2023, 70 for 2022, 121 for 2021 and 83 for 2020.
- Columbus: 51 for 2025, 91 for 2024, 78 for 2023, 61 for 2022, 55 for 2021 and 49 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 154 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 154 in 2025 against 177 in 2024, down 13 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 38 arrests, against 98 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Stillwater County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Stillwater 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 22 people, down from about 24 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 20 beds, and it ran at 124 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 Stillwater County Sheriff's Office at stillwatercountymt.gov/252/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Stillwater County, MT), phone 406-322-5326, 400 East 3rd Avenue North Columbus, MT 59019, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Stillwater County
Whether someone was arrested in Stillwater County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Stillwater County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at stillwatercountymt.gov/202/Clerk-Of-District-Court, phone 406-322-8030); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at stillwatercountymt.gov/205/County-Attorney, phone 406-322-4333).
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 Stillwater 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 Stillwater County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 406-322-5326.
- An arrest in Columbus: 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, 406-322-4333, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Stillwater County District Court, through the court records page at stillwatercountymt.gov, phone 406-322-8030.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Stillwater County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Columbus, the one city in Stillwater County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Stillwater County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Stillwater County each year?
The Stillwater County Sheriff's Office reported 103 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 154 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Stillwater County?
Ask the Stillwater County Sheriff's Office at 406-322-5326; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at stillwatercountymt.gov/252/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Stillwater County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Stillwater County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Stillwater 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 Stillwater County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Stillwater 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 Stillwater 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.