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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Smyrna, Delaware, in Kent County, has about 13,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A DUI arrest in Smyrna starts two cases, a criminal case in the Court of Common Pleas and a license case before the Division of Motor Vehicles, and leaves three records. This guide follows the arrest from the roadside to the court file and the driving record.
This guide covers the law, the arrest, booking, the court case, the license case, the records and common questions.
Related guides: Smyrna public records, Kent County DUI, Smyrna arrest records, Smyrna warrants, Smyrna inmate search, Smyrna criminal records, Delaware arrest records and Delaware inmate search.
The DUI Law in Delaware
Drunk driving is charged as DUI in Delaware, at a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or more.
Driving in Delaware is consent to a breath or blood test when an officer has cause to suspect DUI; the license case that follows a refusal or a failed test is run by the Division of Motor Vehicles, separately from the criminal case.
Who Makes DUI Arrests in Smyrna
The state police or the town police and the agency that reports for Smyrna (filed by the FBI as Smyrna Police Department) make the DUI arrests in and around Smyrna.
In Delaware the police for a given address is the town police in a town with its own department and the Delaware State Police elsewhere.
The FBI's agency list also places seven state agencies, one other agency, one state police unit and one campus police department in Kent County (the arrest records guide names each one); the Kent County State Police makes the arrests on the state highways.
Together, the 11 agencies in Kent County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,681 arrests to the FBI that year, all offenses together; the FBI's count for Kent County does not break DUI out.
The Milford Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Kent County, so its arrests are not broken out for Kent County here.
Booking After a DUI Arrest in Smyrna
A driver arrested for DUI and kept in custody is in the custody of the Delaware Department of Correction, which runs every jail and prison in Delaware; its inmate locator is at doc.delaware.gov/views/inmate_locator.blade.shtml.
The Court Case
The Attorney General files the charge, and the case is heard in the Court of Common Pleas.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.delaware.gov/aoc/kccourthouse, phone 302.735.1900. That page belongs to a lower court, the Court of Common Pleas and the Justice of the Peace Courts, not to the Delaware Superior Court, Kent County.
Statewide, CourtConnect is the Delaware courts' free online case search for civil cases and judgments.
The License Case
The court case is only half the record. The Division of Motor Vehicles runs a separate administrative case over the license, which can suspend it before the criminal case is decided, and the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles keeps the driving record the conviction goes on.
The Records a DUI Leaves
- The arrest report: from the agency that made the arrest, under the Delaware Freedom of Information Act.
- The court file: from the Court of Common Pleas, kept by the Prothonotary.
- The driving record: from the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles.
More on each: Smyrna arrest records, Smyrna police reports and Smyrna court records.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the DUI limit in Delaware?
0.08 percent blood alcohol.
Where is a DUI case from Smyrna heard?
In the Court of Common Pleas, brought by the Attorney General. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.delaware.gov/aoc/kccourthouse.
Where is a person arrested for DUI in Smyrna held?
In a facility of the Delaware Department of Correction, which runs every jail in Delaware.
Who handles the license after a DUI arrest in Delaware?
The Division of Motor Vehicles, in an administrative case separate from the court case.
Is this the official Smyrna 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.