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 on September 24, 2026.
McKenzie County, North Dakota, has about 15,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the McKenzie 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 McKenzie 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: McKenzie County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in McKenzie County
The McKenzie County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for McKenzie County. It reported 347 arrests for 2025.
One city in McKenzie County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Watford City, 6,207 residents: 317 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 McKenzie 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.
- McKenzie County Sheriff's Office: 347 for 2025, 362 for 2024, 286 for 2023, 293 for 2022, 339 for 2021 and 300 for 2020.
- Watford City: 317 for 2025, 403 for 2024, 499 for 2023, 467 for 2022, 263 for 2021 and 365 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 664 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 664 in 2025 against 765 in 2024, down 13 percent.
Through June 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 270 arrests, against 355 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in McKenzie County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in McKenzie 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 25 people, down from about 32 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 135 beds, and it ran at 19 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 McKenzie County Sheriff's Office at mckenziesheriff.net/Resources/Correctional-Facility (page title: Correctional Facility), phone 701.444.3654, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 McKenzie County
Whether someone was arrested in McKenzie 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 mckenziecountynd.gov/departments/states-attorney, phone (701) 444-3733).
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 McKenzie 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 McKenzie County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 701.444.3654.
- An arrest in Watford City: 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) 444-3733, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in McKenzie County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in McKenzie County: Watford City. Alexander and Arnegard 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 McKenzie County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in McKenzie County each year?
The McKenzie County Sheriff's Office reported 347 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 664 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in McKenzie County?
Ask the McKenzie County Sheriff's Office at 701.444.3654; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mckenziesheriff.net.
Where are people arrested in McKenzie County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the McKenzie County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in McKenzie 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 McKenzie County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the McKenzie 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 McKenzie 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.