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 30, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Grand Forks County, North Dakota, has about 74,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Grand Forks County is held at the county jail, run by the Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Grand Forks County public records, Grand Forks County arrest records, Grand Forks County warrants, Grand Forks County police reports, Grand Forks County property records, North Dakota arrest records and North Dakota inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Grand Forks County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Grand Forks County is held at the county jail, run by the Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office at gfcounty.nd.gov/government/gfso (page title: Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office | Grand Forks County, ND), phone 701-780-8224, 1701 North Washington Street Grand Forks, ND 58203, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at 701-780-8224.
The Grand Forks County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 200 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 233 beds, and it ran at 84 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Grand Forks County has about 74,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 26 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Grand Forks County Jail
The Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Grand Forks and Emerado make the arrests that end in a booking in Grand Forks County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Grand Forks County: the University of North Dakota (campus police).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Grand Forks's 2,250 for 2025, the Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office's 419 for 2025 and Emerado's 3 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Grand Forks County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,672 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Grand Forks County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation lists its inmates at docr.nd.gov/resident-lookup.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Grand Forks County?
Ask the Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office at 701-780-8224; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at gfcounty.nd.gov/government/gfso.
How many people are in the Grand Forks County jail?
About 200 on an average day in 2019, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 233 beds.
What is the phone number for the Grand Forks County jail?
701-780-8224, the number on the page of the Grand Forks County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Grand Forks County go?
To a facility of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; its inmate locator is at docr.nd.gov/resident-lookup.
Is this the official Grand Forks 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.