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.
Dunn County, North Dakota, has about 4,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Dunn 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 Dunn 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: Dunn County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Dunn County
The Dunn County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Dunn County. It reported 143 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Dunn County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Killdeer, 912 residents: 21 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 Dunn 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.
- Dunn County Sheriff's Office: 143 for 2025, 173 for 2024, 231 for 2023, 167 for 2022, 165 for 2021 and 140 for 2020.
- Killdeer: 21 for 2025, 13 for 2024, 29 for 2023, 16 for 2022, 31 for 2021 and 28 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 164 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 164 in 2025 against 186 in 2024, down 12 percent.
Through June 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 73 arrests, against 97 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dunn County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dunn 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 7 people, up from about 5 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 10 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 Dunn County Sheriff's Office at dunncountynd.gov/sheriff (page title: Sheriff's Office | Dunn County, ND), phone 800-472-2121, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 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 Dunn County
An arrest in Dunn County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: North Dakota Courts Records Inquiry, the North Dakota courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at dunncountynd.gov/states-attorney, phone (701) 573-5933).
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 Dunn 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 Dunn County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 800-472-2121.
- An arrest in Killdeer: 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) 573-5933, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Dunn County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the four cities in Dunn County: Killdeer. Halliday, Dunn Center and Dodge 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 Dunn County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dunn County each year?
The Dunn County Sheriff's Office reported 143 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 164 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dunn County?
Ask the Dunn County Sheriff's Office at 800-472-2121; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dunncountynd.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Dunn County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Dunn County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dunn 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 Dunn County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dunn 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 Dunn 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.