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.
Steele County, North Dakota, has about 1,800 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Steele County Sheriff's Office. 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 Steele 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: Steele County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Steele County
The Steele County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Steele County. It reported 9 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests The Steele County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Steele County Sheriff's Office: 9 for 2025, 15 for 2024, 17 for 2023, 28 for 2022, 19 for 2021 and 16 for 2020.
Through March 2026, Steele County Sheriff's Office reported 3 arrests, against 1 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Steele County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Steele 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.
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 Steele County
For Steele 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 Steele 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 Steele County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Steele County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Steele County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Steele County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Steele County each year?
The Steele County Sheriff's Office reported 9 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Steele County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Steele County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Steele 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 Steele County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Steele 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 Steele 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.