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 September 28, 2026.
Burleigh County, North Dakota, has about 103,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Burleigh County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and one campus 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 Burleigh 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: Burleigh County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Burleigh County
The Burleigh County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Burleigh County. It reported 792 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Burleigh County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Bismarck, 77,772 residents: 4,014 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lincoln, 4,502 residents: 52 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Burleigh County: Bismarck State College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Burleigh 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.
- Bismarck: 4,014 for 2025, 4,393 for 2024, 3,754 for 2023, 3,402 for 2022, 3,649 for 2021 and 3,695 for 2020.
- Burleigh County Sheriff's Office: 792 for 2025, 689 for 2024, 839 for 2023, 821 for 2022, 993 for 2021 and 962 for 2020.
- Lincoln: 52 for 2025, 88 for 2024, 130 for 2023, 179 for 2022, 138 for 2021 and 80 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,858 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,858 in 2025 against 5,170 in 2024, down 6 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,971 arrests, against 3,417 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Burleigh County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Burleigh 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 230 people, down from about 240 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 429 beds, and it ran at 54 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 Burleigh County Sheriff's Office at burleigh.gov/departments/sheriffs-department/burleighmorton-detenti... (page title: Burleigh/Morton Detention Center | Burleigh County), phone (701) 255-3113, 4000 Apple Creek Road Bismarck, ND 58504, Tuesday and Thursday (except holidays) from 1-4 pm., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Burleigh County
An arrest in Burleigh County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Burleigh County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at ndcourts.gov/court-locations/burleigh-county, phone (701) 222-6690); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at burleigh.gov/departments/states-attorney, phone (701) 222-6672).
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 Burleigh County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Burleigh County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (701) 255-3113.
- An arrest in Bismarck or Lincoln: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Bismarck State College: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (701) 222-6672, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Burleigh County District Court, through the court records page at ndcourts.gov/court-locations/burleigh-county, phone (701) 222-6690.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at burleigh.gov (page title: Records Request | Burleigh County).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Burleigh County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the four cities in Burleigh County: Bismarck and Lincoln. Wing and Regan 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 Burleigh County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Burleigh County each year?
Bismarck reported 4,014 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,858 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Burleigh County?
Ask the Burleigh County Sheriff's Office at (701) 255-3113; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at burleigh.gov.
Where are people arrested in Burleigh County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Burleigh County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Burleigh 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 Burleigh County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Burleigh 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 burleigh.gov.
Is this the official Burleigh 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.