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 October 3, 2026.
Bowman County, North Dakota, has about 2,900 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Bowman 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 State's Attorney files charges, a case in the Bowman 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: Bowman County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Bowman County
The Bowman County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Bowman County. It reported 2 arrests for 2025.
One city in Bowman County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Bowman, 1,416 residents: 64 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 Bowman 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.
- Bowman: 64 for 2025, 81 for 2024, 65 for 2023, 51 for 2022, 33 for 2021 and 39 for 2020.
- Bowman County Sheriff's Office: 2 for 2025, 1 for 2024, 2 for 2023, 7 for 2022, 3 for 2021 and 8 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 66 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 66 in 2025 against 82 in 2024, down 20 percent.
Through June 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 21 arrests, against 42 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bowman County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Bowman County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 4 people, up from about 3 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 7 beds, and it ran at 64 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 Bowman County Sheriff's Office at bowmannd.com/county/departments/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Bowman North Dakota), phone (701) 523-5421, 5421 Bowman County Sheriff 104 1st St NW, Suite 9 Bowman ND 58623, Monday - Thursday: 7:30am - 12:00pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 3, 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 Bowman County
For Bowman County the place to look is the case index of the Bowman County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at ndcourts.gov/public-access).
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 Bowman 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 Bowman County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (701) 523-5421.
- An arrest in Bowman: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Bowman County District Court, through the court records page at ndcourts.gov/public-access.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Bowman County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the four cities in Bowman County: Bowman. Scranton, Rhame and Gascoyne have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Bowman County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bowman County each year?
Bowman reported 64 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 66 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bowman County?
Ask the Bowman County Sheriff's Office at (701) 523-5421; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bowmannd.com/county/departments/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Bowman County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Bowman County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bowman 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 Bowman County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bowman 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.
Is this the official Bowman 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.