Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime 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 between September 24, 2026 and September 28, 2026.
Burleigh County, North Dakota, has about 103,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In North Dakota the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of District Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Burleigh County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Burleigh County public records, Burleigh County arrest records, Burleigh County warrants, Burleigh County inmate search, Burleigh County court records, North Dakota arrest records and North Dakota inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Burleigh County District Court
A criminal case from Burleigh County is filed in the Burleigh County District Court, and the court file, kept by the Clerk of District Court, is the record of it that the public may see.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at ndcourts.gov/court-locations/burleigh-county (page title: North Dakota Court System | Burleigh County), phone (701) 222-6690, 514 E. Thayer Ave., Bismarck, ND 58501, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
Statewide, North Dakota Courts Records Inquiry is the North Dakota courts' free statewide case search.
The North Dakota Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
To see your own record, the route is a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at attorneygeneral.nd.gov/public-safety/criminal-history-records.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Burleigh County
The Burleigh County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Bismarck and Lincoln keep the arrest records in Burleigh County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Burleigh County: Bismarck State College (campus police); it keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the three agencies in Burleigh County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,858 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Burleigh County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Burleigh County in 2025
The three agencies in Burleigh County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 231 violent and 1,603 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,834 crimes in 2025 against 2,145 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Burleigh County public records guide.
The State's Attorney for Burleigh County
The State's Attorney decides which arrests in Burleigh County become charges and files them in the Burleigh County District Court; the office answers questions about pending prosecutions, and the case files themselves are court records.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at burleigh.gov/departments/states-attorney (page title: State's Attorney | Burleigh County), phone (701) 222-6672, 514 East Thayer Avenue Bismarck, ND 58501, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Burleigh County
Registered sex offenders living in Burleigh County are listed on the North Dakota Sex Offender Registry, run by the North Dakota Attorney General at sexoffender.nd.gov/offender/search. Moderate and high risk offenders are listed online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Burleigh County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the North Dakota Open Records Law a county office must answer a request within a reasonable time, and it may charge copying, and staff time after the first hour. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at burleigh.gov/departments/sheriffs-department/records-request (page title: Records Request | Burleigh County).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Burleigh County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at ndcourts.gov/court-locations/burleigh-county (page title: North Dakota Court System | Burleigh County). Statewide, North Dakota Courts Records Inquiry is the North Dakota courts' free statewide case search.
How do I get my own North Dakota criminal history?
Through a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Who prosecutes crimes in Burleigh County?
The State's Attorney, reached at (701) 222-6672, which files its cases in the Burleigh County District Court.
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.