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.
Pembina County, North Dakota, has about 6,600 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Pembina 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 Pembina 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: Pembina County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Pembina County
The Pembina County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Pembina County. It reported 60 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Cavalier, 1,220 residents: 9 arrests reported for 2025.
- Drayton, 722 residents: 1 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 Pembina 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.
- Pembina County Sheriff's Office: 60 for 2025, 45 for 2024, 49 for 2023, 55 for 2022, 90 for 2021 and 65 for 2020.
- Cavalier: 9 for 2025, 18 for 2024, 21 for 2023, 19 for 2022, 13 for 2021 and 17 for 2020.
- Drayton: 1 for 2025, 2 for 2024, 1 for 2023 and 6 for 2022.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 70 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 70 in 2025 against 65 in 2024, up 7.7 percent.
Through April 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 11 arrests, against 25 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Pembina County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Pembina 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 2019 the jail held about 10 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 16 beds, and it ran at 62 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 Pembina County Sheriff's Office at pembinacountynd.gov/county/departments/sheriff (page title: Pembina County, ND | Departments), phone (701) 265-4122, 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 Pembina County
Whether someone was arrested in Pembina County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Pembina County District Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at ndcourts.gov/court-locations/pembina-county, phone (701) 265-4373); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at pembinacountynd.gov/county/departments/states-attorney, phone (701)265-4334).
Statewide, North Dakota Courts Records Inquiry is the North Dakota courts' free statewide case search.
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 Pembina County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Pembina County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (701) 265-4122.
- An arrest in Cavalier or Drayton: 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)265-4334, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Pembina County District Court, through the court records page at ndcourts.gov/court-locations/pembina-county, phone (701) 265-4373.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Pembina County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the 11 cities in Pembina County: Cavalier and Drayton. Walhalla, Pembina, Neche, St. Thomas, Crystal, Mountain, Bathgate, Hamilton and Canton City (Hensel) 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 Pembina County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Pembina County each year?
The Pembina County Sheriff's Office reported 60 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 70 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Pembina County?
Ask the Pembina County Sheriff's Office at (701) 265-4122; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at pembinacountynd.gov.
Where are people arrested in Pembina County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Pembina County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Pembina 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 Pembina County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Pembina 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 Pembina 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.