Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 28, 2026.
Fargo, North Dakota, in Cass County, has about 136,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the State's Attorney files charges, a case in the Cass County District Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Fargo public records, Cass County arrest records, North Dakota arrest records and North Dakota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Fargo
The FBI lists Fargo with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Fargo Police Department. It reported 3,563 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Cass County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 402 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Cass County: North Dakota State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Fargo 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.
- Fargo: 3,563 for 2025, 4,103 for 2024, 4,705 for 2023, 4,541 for 2022, 4,454 for 2021 and 4,645 for 2020.
Fargo's 3,563 arrests in 2025 were down 13 percent from 4,103 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Fargo reported 2,128 arrests, against 2,322 in the same months of 2025.
Across Cass County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,021 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Fargo Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Fargo 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 330 people, up from about 260 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 348 beds, and it ran at 94 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 Cass County Sheriff's Office at casscountynd.gov/our-county/sheriff (page title: Sheriff's Office | Cass County, ND), phone (701) 241-5800, Monday-Friday, 8 am-5 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation lists its inmates at docr.nd.gov/resident-lookup.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Fargo
An arrest in Fargo can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Cass County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at casscountynd.gov/our-county/courts, phone (701) 451-6900); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at casscountynd.gov/our-county/states-attorney, phone (701) 241-5850).
Statewide, North Dakota Courts Records Inquiry is the North Dakota courts' free statewide case search.
North Dakota is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: name-based criminal history records are open to anyone who asks, through the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. 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 Fargo
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 North Dakota Open Records Law the agency must answer within a reasonable time, and it may charge copying, and staff time after the first hour.
- An arrest by the Fargo police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at fargond.gov/city-government/departments/police/police-records-data/... (page title: The City of Fargo | Police Reports), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Cass County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (701) 241-5800.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (701) 241-5850, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Cass County District Court, through the court records page at casscountynd.gov/our-county/courts, phone (701) 451-6900.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at casscountynd.gov (page title: Open Records Request | Cass County, ND).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
The Cass County guide covers every agency in the county: Cass County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Fargo each year?
Fargo reported 3,563 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Fargo?
Ask the Cass County Sheriff's Office at (701) 241-5800; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at casscountynd.gov/our-county/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Fargo booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cass County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Fargo?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation: name-based criminal history records are open to anyone who asks. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the North Dakota Open Records Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Fargo?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Fargo police for its own arrests, the Cass County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the North Dakota Open Records Law the answer is due within a reasonable time; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at casscountynd.gov.
Is this the official Fargo website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.