Carver County Criminal Records

Carver County criminal records are kept by the Sheriff's Office and the District Court in Chaska. You can search court cases online through the free Minnesota Court Records Online system, and the county jail posts a daily inmate roster that shows who is in custody. The county sits in the 1st Judicial District and handles about 3,550 bookings each year. Whether you need arrest details, case docket entries, or conviction history, this page walks you through the main sources and what to expect when you look up criminal records in Carver County.

Carver County Sheriff and Jail Records

The Carver County Sheriff's Office handles law enforcement for the county and runs the jail at 606 East Fourth Street in Chaska. Sheriff Jason Kamerud oversees day-to-day operations. The jail is about 68,000 square feet and uses roughly 60 security cameras to monitor activity. You can reach the Sheriff's Office at 952-361-1212.

Under Minnesota Statute 13.82, arrest data is public. That includes the time and date of the arrest, the place it happened, charges filed, and custody status. The jail roster shows this info for anyone currently held. It updates by 6 a.m. the day after each booking and covers a rolling seven-day history. You can click a day-of-week tab to view bookings for that date. Each record lists the person's full name, age, address, booking date and time, release date if applicable, custody status, arresting agency, charges, and bail amount.

Note: Carver County's own website has reported access issues; the jail roster aggregator is the most reliable public option for current booking data.carvercountymn.gov/departments/county-sheriff/jail-services">Carver County Jail Services

Carver County Court Criminal Records

Criminal court records for Carver County are filed at the Carver County Government Center in Chaska. The court is part of Minnesota's 1st Judicial District. It handles felony, gross misdemeanor, and misdemeanor cases for all of Carver County. The court administrator manages the case files and handles public records requests.

The free way to search Carver County criminal court records is through Minnesota Court Records Online, known as MCRO. It covers cases filed after July 1, 2015. You can look up records at publicaccess.courts.state.mn.us. Search by name or case number. The system shows party names, charges, docket entries, hearing dates, and case status. It does not show every document in the file, but it gives you a good picture of where a case stands. You can also use the court finder at mncourts.gov/Find-Courts to confirm office hours and contact info for the Carver County courthouse.

If you need documents from a case or a certified copy of a judgment, you can request them in person or by mail. Bring a case number or the full name of the person you are searching. Staff can look up the file and tell you what is available. Some records from older cases may not be in the online system, so an in-person search is worth the trip if MCRO doesn't show what you need.

Minnesota BCA Criminal History Search

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension runs the state's central criminal history database. It covers conviction records from courts across Minnesota, including Carver County. The BCA charges $8 per name search. You can run a search online at chs.state.mn.us. The BCA's main site is bca.dps.mn.gov.

There is a limit to what shows up. Under Minnesota Statute 13.87, public conviction data is limited to 15 years after the sentence discharge date. Older convictions may not appear in the public search results. Arrests that did not result in a conviction, charges that were dismissed, and cases that were expunged are generally not shown.

Employers and landlords sometimes run BCA checks. But arrest data that did not lead to a conviction is generally off-limits under state law. The BCA database is most useful for confirming whether someone has a felony or gross misdemeanor conviction on record in Minnesota.

Clearing Criminal Records in Carver County

Minnesota law gives people a path to seal certain criminal records. Expungement under Minnesota Statute 609A does not destroy records. It seals them from public view. If a court grants expungement, the record no longer shows up in public searches. The BCA, court records, and law enforcement agencies must comply with the sealing order.

Some cases qualify for automatic expungement under Minnesota Statute 609A.015. Stayed sentences that were discharged, certain low-level convictions, and cases that ended in dismissal or acquittal may qualify. The court reviews these automatically without the person having to file a petition. If your case qualifies, the sealing happens without extra steps on your part.

For cases that don't qualify automatically, you file a petition with the Carver County District Court. There is a waiting period based on the offense type. The court notifies prosecutors, who can object. A judge decides. If approved, all agencies named in the order must seal their records within a set timeframe.

Offender Search and Sex Offender Registry

The Minnesota Department of Corrections runs a free public offender search tool at coms.doc.state.mn.us/PublicViewer. It covers people currently in state prison or on supervised release. You can search by name and see basic case and supervision details. This is separate from the BCA database and from the court records system.

Sex offender registration in Minnesota is governed by Minnesota Statute 243.166. People convicted of qualifying predatory offenses must register with local law enforcement. The Carver County Sheriff's Office maintains local registration records. The state also maintains a public predatory offender registry. You can check it through the BCA's website. Offenders who fail to register face additional criminal charges.

State Criminal Record Sources

The Minnesota BCA website at bca.dps.mn.gov is the main hub for criminal history searches statewide, including Carver County cases.

The BCA site lets you pay the $8 fee online and get results by name for any county in the state.

For court-based records, the MCRO portal at mncourts.gov/Access-Case-Records/MCRO.aspx covers Carver County District Court filings since July 2015.

MCRO is free to use and does not require an account to search basic case information.

Nearby Counties

Carver County borders several counties in the southwest metro area. If you are not sure which county has the records you need, check the address where the arrest or filing took place.