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 30, 2026.
Benson County, North Dakota, has about 5,800 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Benson 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 State's Attorney files charges, a case in the Benson 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: Benson County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Benson County
The Benson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Benson County. It reported 121 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
How Many Arrests The Benson 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.
- Benson County Sheriff's Office: 121 for 2024, 148 for 2022, 97 for 2021, 18 for 2020 and 22 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Benson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Benson 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 2023 the jail held about 22 people, up from about 20 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 33 beds, and it ran at 66 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 Benson County Sheriff's Office at bensoncountynd.com/copy-of-recorder-s-office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Benson County), phone 701-473-5340, 222 Walnut St W, Devils Lake, ND 58301, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, whose inmate locator is at docr.nd.gov/resident-lookup.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Benson County
For Benson County the place to look is North Dakota Courts Records Inquiry, the North Dakota courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Benson 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 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 Benson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 701-473-5340.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bismarcknd.gov (page title: Form Center, Request for Public Records).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Benson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Benson 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 Benson County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Benson County each year?
The Benson County Sheriff's Office reported 121 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Benson County?
Ask the Benson County Sheriff's Office at 701-473-5340; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bensoncountynd.com/copy-of-recorder-s-office.
Where are people arrested in Benson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Benson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Benson County?
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 Benson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Benson County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the North Dakota Open Records Law the answer is due within a reasonable time; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at bismarcknd.gov.
Is this the official Benson 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.