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.
Mercer County, North Dakota, has about 8,300 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office and two city agencies. 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 Mercer 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: Mercer County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Mercer County
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Mercer County. It reported 87 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Mercer County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Beulah, 3,047 residents: 53 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hazen, 2,288 residents: 17 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 Mercer 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.
- Mercer County Sheriff's Office: 87 for 2025, 71 for 2024, 90 for 2023, 148 for 2021, 122 for 2020 and 135 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Beulah: 53 for 2025, 56 for 2023, 107 for 2022, 113 for 2021, 81 for 2020 and 73 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Hazen: 17 for 2025, 12 for 2024, 11 for 2022, 15 for 2021, 24 for 2020 and 4 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 157 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 104 in 2025 against 83 in 2024, up 25 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 88 arrests, against 92 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mercer County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Mercer 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 2019 the jail held about 2 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 6 beds, and it ran at 25 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 Mercer County Sheriff's Office at mercercountynd.com/departments/sheriffs-office (page title: Mercer County, North Dakota | Departments), phone 701-745-3333, 410 Van Slyck Ave, PO Box 39 Stanton, ND 58571, 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 Mercer County
For Mercer County the place to look is North Dakota Courts Records Inquiry, the North Dakota courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Mercer 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 Mercer County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 701-745-3333.
- An arrest in Beulah or Hazen: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Mercer County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the six cities in Mercer County: Beulah and Hazen. Stanton, Zap, Golden Valley and Pick City 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 Mercer County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mercer County each year?
The Mercer County Sheriff's Office reported 87 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 157 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mercer County?
Ask the Mercer County Sheriff's Office at 701-745-3333; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mercercountynd.com.
Where are people arrested in Mercer County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mercer 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 Mercer County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mercer 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 Mercer 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.