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 October 4, 2026.
McHenry County, North Dakota, has about 5,100 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the McHenry County Sheriff's Office. 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 McHenry 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: McHenry County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in McHenry County
The McHenry County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for McHenry County. It reported 114 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests The McHenry County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- McHenry County Sheriff's Office: 114 for 2025, 133 for 2024, 114 for 2023, 101 for 2022, 151 for 2021 and 159 for 2020.
The McHenry County Sheriff's Office's 114 arrests in 2025 were down 14 percent from 133 in 2024.
Through August 2026, McHenry County Sheriff's Office reported 82 arrests, against 81 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in McHenry County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in McHenry 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.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 27 people, down from about 36 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 50 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 McHenry County Sheriff's Office at mchenrycountynd.gov/departments/sheriffs-office (page title: McHenry County, North Dakota | Departments), phone (701) 537-5633, 407 Main Street South, Room 303 Towner, ND 58788, Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 McHenry County
Whether someone was arrested in McHenry County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: 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 ndcourts.gov/news/north-dakota/counties/job-announcement-state-s-at..., phone (701) 537-5724).
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 McHenry 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 McHenry County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (701) 537-5633.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (701) 537-5724, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in McHenry County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in McHenry County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the McHenry County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in McHenry County each year?
The McHenry County Sheriff's Office reported 114 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in McHenry County?
Ask the McHenry County Sheriff's Office at (701) 537-5633; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mchenrycountynd.gov.
Where are people arrested in McHenry County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the McHenry County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in McHenry 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 McHenry County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the McHenry 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 McHenry 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.