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 30, 2026.
Walsh County, North Dakota, has about 10,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Walsh County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Walsh 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: Walsh County public records, North Dakota arrest records, North Dakota inmate search and North Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Walsh County
The Walsh County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Walsh County. It reported 173 arrests for 2025.
One city in Walsh County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Grafton, 4,027 residents: 91 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 Walsh County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Walsh County Sheriff's Office: 173 for 2025, 101 for 2024, 112 for 2023, 97 for 2022, 107 for 2021 and 119 for 2020.
- Grafton: 91 for 2025, 77 for 2023, 72 for 2022, 88 for 2021 and 92 for 2020; 2024 is missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 264 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 173 in 2025 against 101 in 2024, up 71 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 193 arrests, against 190 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Walsh County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Walsh 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 16 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 16 beds, and it ran at 100 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 Walsh County Sheriff's Office at walshcountynd.com/county_government/sheriffs_office_corrections/ind... (page title: Walsh County ND), phone 701-352-2041, 638 Cooper Ave Grafton, ND 58237, Mon 8 AM - 4:30 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Walsh County
For Walsh 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 Walsh 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 Walsh County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 701-352-2041.
- An arrest in Grafton: 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 Walsh County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the 13 cities in Walsh County: Grafton. Park River, Minto, Hoople, Fordville, Edinburg, Adams, Forest River, Lankin, Pisek, Ardoch, Fairdale and Conway 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 Walsh County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Walsh County each year?
The Walsh County Sheriff's Office reported 173 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 264 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Walsh County?
Ask the Walsh County Sheriff's Office at 701-352-2041; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at walshcountynd.com.
Where are people arrested in Walsh County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Walsh County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Walsh 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 Walsh County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Walsh 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 Walsh 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.