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.
Richland County, North Dakota, has about 17,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Richland County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and one campus 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 Richland 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: Richland County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Richland County
The Richland County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Richland County. It reported 86 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Richland County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Wahpeton, 8,115 residents: 328 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Richland County: North Dakota State College of Science (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Richland 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.
- Wahpeton: 328 for 2025, 360 for 2024, 408 for 2023, 335 for 2022, 309 for 2021 and 274 for 2020.
- Richland County Sheriff's Office: 86 for 2025, 37 for 2024, 57 for 2023, 169 for 2021, 208 for 2020 and 286 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 414 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 414 in 2025 against 397 in 2024, up 4.3 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 251 arrests, against 305 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Richland County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Richland 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 2023 the jail held about 18 people, up from about 15 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 32 beds, and it ran at 56 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, whose inmate locator is at docr.nd.gov/resident-lookup.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Richland County
An arrest in Richland County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: 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 co.richland.nd.us/states-attorney, phone 701-642-7766).
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 Richland 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 Richland County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Wahpeton: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by North Dakota State College of Science: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 701-642-7766, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Richland County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the 14 cities in Richland County: Wahpeton. Hankinson, Lidgerwood, Wyndmere, Fairmount, Walcott, Abercrombie, Colfax, Mooreton, Christine, Dwight, Mantador, Great Bend and one more 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 Richland County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Richland County each year?
Wahpeton reported 328 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 414 between them.
Where are people arrested in Richland County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Richland County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Richland 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 Richland County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Richland 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 Richland 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.