Dakota County Police Records Search
Dakota County police records are public documents that give residents access to arrest data, incident reports, and law enforcement activity across one of Minnesota's most populous counties. This page explains how to search Dakota County records, contact the Sheriff's Office, use state tools like the BCA and MCRO, and understand your rights under Minnesota's data access laws.
Dakota County Sheriff's Office
The Dakota County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency for unincorporated areas and serves as the custodian of many county police records. Sheriff Joe Leko has led the office since 2023 and his term runs through 2026. The office operates under a mission to "provide professional, progressive, and proactive service while maintaining the public trust." Their policy manual is available online, which is useful if you want to understand how the office handles data requests.
| Address | 1580 Highway 55, Hastings, MN 55033 |
|---|---|
| Phone | 651-438-4700 |
| Fax | 651-450-2737 |
| sheriff@co.dakota.mn.us | |
| Website | co.dakota.mn.us/Government/Sheriff |
The office handles requests for police reports, arrest records, and incident reports tied to Sheriff's Office activity. Not all police records in Dakota County flow through the Sheriff. Cities like Burnsville, Eagan, Apple Valley, and Lakeville each have their own police departments. If you need records from a city department, contact that city directly. For Sheriff's Office records, email or call the number above to start your request.
The Dakota County Sheriff's Office website lists contact details, current leadership, and links to the online policy manual.
The Sheriff's Office website provides contact information, department details, and resources for requesting law enforcement records.
How to Request Dakota County Police Records
You can request Dakota County police records in person or by mail. Walk-in requests go to the Sheriff's Office at 1580 Highway 55 in Hastings. If you mail your request, send it to the same address and address it to the Records Division. Either way, include as much detail as you can. A case number helps. If you don't have one, include the date and location of the incident, plus the full name of anyone involved.
Fees are set by Minnesota law. Inspection of records is free. If you want copies, the cost is 25 cents per page for standard paper documents, up to the first 100 pages. Beyond 100 pages, the fee may differ. Under Minn. Stat. 13.03, if the agency denies your request, they must give you a written explanation that cites the specific statute they are relying on. A vague denial is not legally sufficient.
Active investigations are kept private. Once a case is no longer active, most arrest and incident data becomes public under Minn. Stat. 13.82. That statute defines exactly what law enforcement agencies must make available. It covers arrest times and dates, the name and age of adults who were arrested, charges filed, whether weapons were involved, and whether the person was held in custody.
Note: Requests for records tied to city police departments in Dakota County must go directly to each city's department, not to the Sheriff's Office.
Dakota County Jail Inmate Records
The Dakota County Jail holds people who are in custody awaiting trial or serving short sentences. An online inmate search tool is available to the public at no cost. You can look up who is currently housed at the jail, view basic booking details, and check custody status.
The Dakota County Jail Inmate Search is hosted on the county website and is updated regularly. It typically shows the person's name, booking date, charges, and current status. This tool does not require you to create an account or pay a fee.
The online inmate search covers people currently in custody at the Dakota County Jail and is a quick way to confirm custody status without calling the jail directly.
Booking photos are considered public data under Minn. Stat. 13.82. They may or may not appear in the online search tool, but you can request them directly from the Sheriff's Office. The jail inmate search covers the county jail only. It does not include records from city lockups or state correctional facilities.
What Dakota County Police Records Show
Minnesota law is specific about what police records are public. Under Minn. Stat. 13.82, law enforcement agencies must release certain data on request. This includes the time, date, and place of an arrest. It includes the name, age, and sex of adults who are arrested. It also covers the charges that were filed and whether a weapon was involved.
Incident data is also covered. That includes the general nature of an incident, the location, and the responding agency. Booking photos are public. Recordings of 911 calls are public as audio files, though the transcripts of those calls are not automatically public and may require a separate request process.
Some data is not public. Juvenile records are protected. The identity of victims in certain types of cases is shielded. Data that could compromise an ongoing investigation is withheld until the investigation ends. Personnel data about officers is generally private, with exceptions for records involving serious misconduct. Criminal history data maintained by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension falls under Minn. Stat. 13.87 and has its own rules about who can access it and under what conditions.
When a case closes, data that was private during the investigation may become public. The shift happens when the investigation becomes inactive, which has a specific legal meaning in Minnesota. If you were denied data and believe the case is now inactive, you can request a new determination.
Dakota County Online Records Search Tools
Two main state tools help you search Dakota County records online without contacting the Sheriff's Office directly. The first is the Minnesota Court Records Online system, known as MCRO. The second is the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, or BCA.
MCRO, available at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us, is a free public search tool that covers all Minnesota district courts, including the 1st Judicial District that serves Dakota County. You can search by name or case number and find civil and criminal case records, including charges, hearing dates, and case status. It does not give you the full case file, but it tells you whether a case exists and what court actions have been taken.
For criminal history background checks, the BCA is the main resource. The BCA maintains statewide criminal history data and offers several search options depending on your purpose. Public name-based searches are available through the BCA's website at dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/Pages/background-checks.aspx. You can also call the BCA at 651-793-2400, option 7. The BCA pulls from statewide data, so it covers Dakota County cases that resulted in criminal charges.
The BCA background checks page walks you through available search types and fees.
The BCA offers name-based criminal history searches that cover arrests and charges filed in Dakota County courts.
Data Access Rights in Dakota County
Minnesota's Government Data Practices Act, or MGDPA, sets out the rules for public access to government records. The core rule, found in Minn. Stat. 13.025, is that all government data is public unless a specific law says otherwise. This puts the burden on the agency to justify withholding data, not on the requester to prove they deserve it.
Inspecting records is free. You have the right to look at public records without paying anything. If you want copies, fees apply. Under Minn. Stat. 13.03, the cost is 25 cents per page for paper copies up to 100 pages. For electronic data, the agency can charge the actual cost of making and delivering the copy. If the agency says no to your request, they must provide a written denial that cites the exact statute used to classify the data as private. They cannot just say the data is confidential without explaining why.
If you are the subject of the data, you have additional rights under Minn. Stat. 13.04. Agencies must respond to your request within 10 days if you are the data subject. For third-party requesters, the agency has 30 days. When an agency collects private data from you, they are required to give you a Tennessen Warning, which explains how your data will be used. You can also request that inaccurate private data about you be corrected.
The Dakota County official website can help you identify the right department for general county records questions outside of law enforcement.
The county's main website links to offices that handle data requests beyond law enforcement, including court administration and other departments.
Note: If a request for your own data is denied, you can file a complaint with the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings, which handles disputes under the MGDPA.
Cities in Dakota County
Several cities in Dakota County have their own police departments. Residents seeking police records tied to activity in these cities should contact the city's department directly. The following cities in Dakota County have pages on this site:
Other communities in Dakota County, including Hastings, Farmington, and South St. Paul, also have local law enforcement. Those cities do not have dedicated pages here, but you can find their police department contact information through the Dakota County website.
Nearby Counties
Dakota County shares borders with several other Minnesota counties. If you need police records from an adjacent area, these pages may help: