text: how do i find out why my friend got arrested in oregon state?   if you know the town or city, and date of arrest, you can check the local newspaper on-line for the police blotter. if it was a more serious crime, you can check for local tv news stations and see they say anything about it.  also, if you know if it was city, or county police that arrested him, you can sometimes call them and explain that you are a friend from out-of-state, and that he has asked you for help, but you want to be sure he isn't lying to you about the charge. since it's public record, they may offer to tell you over the phone.