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 on September 24, 2026.
Kent County, Delaware, has about 193,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are made by the state police or the town police, with 11 city agencies and ten campus, state or other agencies reporting to the FBI. An arrest 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 each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Kent County public records, Delaware arrest records, Delaware inmate search and Delaware criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Kent County
Arrests in Kent County are made by the state police or the town police. 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 lists 11 cities in Kent County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Dover, 40,191 residents: 2,802 arrests reported for 2025.
- Smyrna, 13,326 residents: 473 arrests reported for 2025.
- Clayton, 4,511 residents: 24 arrests reported for 2025.
- Camden, 4,191 residents: 154 arrests reported for 2025.
- Harrington, 3,934 residents: 122 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cheswold, 2,537 residents: 21 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wyoming, 1,871 residents: 26 arrests reported for 2025.
- Felton, 1,375 residents: 57 arrests reported for 2025.
- Frederica, 1,131 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Kenton, 223 residents: 2 arrests reported for 2025.
- Viola, 145 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
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.
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 Each Agency Reports in Kent County
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.
- Smyrna: 473 for 2025, 465 for 2024, 526 for 2023, 600 for 2022, 443 for 2021 and 321 for 2020.
- Camden: 154 for 2025, 143 for 2024, 144 for 2023, 163 for 2022, 160 for 2021 and 184 for 2020.
- Harrington: 122 for 2025, 139 for 2024, 145 for 2023, 150 for 2022, 132 for 2021 and 165 for 2020.
- Felton: 57 for 2025, 31 for 2024, 31 for 2023, 32 for 2022, 28 for 2021 and 32 for 2020.
- Wyoming: 26 for 2025, 39 for 2024, 56 for 2023, 16 for 2022, 31 for 2021 and 17 for 2020.
- Clayton: 24 for 2025, 22 for 2024, 30 for 2023, 32 for 2022, 28 for 2021 and 35 for 2020.
- Cheswold: 21 for 2025, 25 for 2024, 27 for 2023, 61 for 2022, 37 for 2021 and 37 for 2020.
- Kenton: 2 for 2025.
- Frederica: 0 for 2025 and 2 for 2021; 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Viola: 0 for 2025 and 0 for 2024.
Together, the 11 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,681 arrests that year. The nine of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,679 in 2025 against 3,484 in 2024, up 5.6 percent.
Through May 2026, the 11 agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,530 arrests, against 1,575 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Kent County Are Held
Delaware has no county jails. A person held after an arrest in Kent County is in the custody of the Delaware Department of Correction, which runs every jail and prison in the state, so one inmate lookup covers the whole state.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Delaware Department of Correction, whose inmate locator is at doc.delaware.gov/views/inmate_locator.blade.shtml.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Kent County
An arrest in Kent County 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 Kent County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 state police or the town police: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (302) 744-2386.
- An arrest in Dover, Smyrna, Clayton, Camden, Harrington, Cheswold or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Environmental Control, the State Capitol Police or the Dover Fire Marshal: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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.
Cities in Kent County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 11 of the 19 cities in Kent County: Dover, Smyrna, Clayton, Camden, Harrington, Cheswold, Wyoming, Felton, Frederica, Kenton and Viola. Houston, Magnolia, Bowers, Little Creek, Woodside, Leipsic, Farmington and Hartly have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Kent County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Kent County each year?
Dover reported 2,802 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 11 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,681 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Kent County?
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 Kent County booked?
In a facility of the Delaware Department of Correction, which runs every jail in Delaware.
Are arrest records public in Kent County?
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 Kent County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the state police or the town police for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Kent County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.