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.
Rolette County, North Dakota, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Rolette 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 Rolette 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: Rolette County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Rolette County
The Rolette County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Rolette County. It reported 112 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Rolette County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Rolla, 1,157 residents: 31 arrests reported for 2025.
- Dunseith, 605 residents: 34 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 Rolette 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.
- Rolette County Sheriff's Office: 112 for 2025, 118 for 2024, 92 for 2023, 86 for 2022, 68 for 2020 and 74 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Dunseith: 34 for 2025, 27 for 2024, 22 for 2023 and 17 for 2022.
- Rolla: 31 for 2025, 46 for 2024, 41 for 2023, 8 for 2022, 17 for 2021 and 41 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 177 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 177 in 2025 against 191 in 2024, down 7.3 percent.
Through March 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 52 arrests, against 57 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Rolette County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Rolette 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 25 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 48 beds, and it ran at 52 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 Rolette County
Whether someone was arrested in Rolette County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Rolette 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/rolette-county, phone 701-477-3816); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at rolettecountynd.gov/departments/statesattorney, phone 701-477-3169).
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 Rolette 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 Rolette County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Rolla or Dunseith: 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, 701-477-3169, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Rolette County District Court, through the court records page at ndcourts.gov/court-locations/rolette-county, phone 701-477-3816.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Rolette County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the five cities in Rolette County: Rolla and Dunseith. Rolette, St. John and Mylo 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 Rolette County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Rolette County each year?
The Rolette County Sheriff's Office reported 112 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 177 between them.
Where are people arrested in Rolette County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Rolette County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Rolette 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 Rolette County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Rolette 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 Rolette 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.