Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Dover, Delaware, in Kent County, has about 40,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at a facility of the Delaware Department of Correction, and, if the Attorney General files charges, a case in the Delaware Superior Court, Kent County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Dover public records, Kent County arrest records, Delaware arrest records and Delaware inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Dover
The FBI lists Dover with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Dover Police Department. It reported 2,802 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Kent County: Environmental Control, the State Capitol Police, the State Fire Marshal, Fish and Wildlife and three more (state agency); the Dover Fire Marshal (other); the Kent County State Police (state police); Delaware State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Dover 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.
- Dover: 2,802 for 2025, 2,620 for 2024, 2,156 for 2023, 2,108 for 2022, 1,872 for 2021 and 1,802 for 2020.
Dover's 2,802 arrests in 2025 were up 6.9 percent from 2,620 in 2024.
Through May 2026, Dover reported 1,173 arrests, against 1,210 in the same months of 2025.
Across Kent County, the 11 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,681 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dover Are Held
In Delaware the jails belong to the state. Anyone held after an arrest in Dover is booked into a facility of the Delaware Department of Correction, and the inmate lookup is the state's.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Delaware Department of Correction lists its inmates at doc.delaware.gov/views/inmate_locator.blade.shtml.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Dover
An arrest in Dover can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the Delaware Department of Correction's inmate locator, for anyone held; the case index of the Delaware Superior Court, Kent County, kept by the Prothonotary, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at courts.delaware.gov/aoc/kccourthouse (page title: Kent County Courthouse | Administrative Office of the Courts | Delaware Courts | State of Delaware), phone 302.735.1900, belongs to a lower court, not to the Delaware Superior Court, Kent County.
Statewide, CourtConnect is the Delaware courts' free online case search for civil cases and judgments.
Delaware does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Delaware State Bureau of Identification goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Dover
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 Delaware Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 15 business days, and it may charge the copy fees set by statute, plus staff time after the first hour.
- An arrest by the Dover police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofdover.gov/FOIA (page title: City of Dover Delaware | Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)), phone (302) 736-7008, Mon-Fri, 8:00AM-4:00PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the state police or the town police: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (302) 744-2386.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Delaware Superior Court, Kent County it is kept by the Prothonotary. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at courts.delaware.gov/aoc/kccourthouse, phone 302.735.1900, is a lower court's.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at kentcountyde.gov/Contact-Us/FOIA (page title: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Kent County Levy Court).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Bureau of Identification.
The Kent County guide covers every agency in the county: Kent County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dover each year?
Dover reported 2,802 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dover?
Through the Delaware Department of Correction's inmate locator at doc.delaware.gov; the department holds everyone in custody in Delaware.
Where are people arrested in Dover booked?
In a facility of the Delaware Department of Correction, which runs every jail in Delaware.
Are arrest records public in Dover?
The court files of criminal cases in the Delaware Superior Court, Kent County are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Delaware State Bureau of Identification is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Delaware Freedom of Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Dover?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dover police for its own arrests, the state police or the town police for the sheriff's. Under the Delaware Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 15 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at kentcountyde.gov/Contact-Us/FOIA.
Is this the official Dover website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.