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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 24, 2026.
Burke County, North Dakota, has about 2,200 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Burke 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 Burke 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: Burke County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Burke County
The Burke County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Burke County. It reported 20 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Burke County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Powers Lake, 376 residents: 7 arrests reported for 2024.
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 The Burke County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Burke County Sheriff's Office: 20 for 2025, 37 for 2024, 18 for 2023, 22 for 2022, 41 for 2021 and 43 for 2020.
- Powers Lake: 7 for 2024, 3 for 2022, 3 for 2021, 2 for 2020 and 1 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
Through April 2026, Burke County Sheriff's Office reported 5 arrests, against 6 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Burke County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Burke 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.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Burke County Sheriff's Office at burkecountysheriff.com/inmate-inquiry.cfm (page title: Inmate Inquiry | Burke County Sheriff), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Burke County
An arrest in Burke County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Burke 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); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at burkecountynd.com/states-attorney, phone (701) 377-4358).
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 Burke 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 Burke County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Powers Lake: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (701) 377-4358, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Burke 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 Burke County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the six cities in Burke County: Powers Lake. Bowbells, Lignite, Columbus, Portal and Flaxton 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 Burke County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Burke County each year?
The Burke County Sheriff's Office reported 20 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Burke County?
Ask the Burke County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at burkecountysheriff.com/inmate-inquiry.cfm.
Where are people arrested in Burke County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Burke County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Burke 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 Burke County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Burke 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 Burke 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.