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 30, 2026.
Sussex County, Delaware, has about 271,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are made by the state police or the town police, with 21 city agencies and three 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, Sussex 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: Sussex County public records, Delaware arrest records, Delaware inmate search and Delaware criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Sussex County
Arrests in Sussex 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 21 cities in Sussex County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:
- Milford, 14,079 residents: 924 arrests reported for 2025.
- Seaford, 8,952 residents: 537 arrests reported for 2025.
- Georgetown, 8,098 residents: 609 arrests reported for 2025.
- Millsboro, 7,864 residents: 317 arrests reported for 2025.
- Laurel, 4,395 residents: 399 arrests reported for 2025.
- Milton, 3,773 residents: 79 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lewes, 3,702 residents: 93 arrests reported for 2025.
- Selbyville, 3,285 residents: 50 arrests reported for 2025.
- Ocean View, 3,023 residents: 45 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bridgeville, 2,909 residents: 96 arrests reported for 2025.
- Delmar, 2,278 residents: 81 arrests reported for 2025.
- Blades, 1,330 residents: 29 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 FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Sussex County: Attorney General in Sussex County and Animal Welfare in Sussex County (state agency); the Sussex County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Sussex County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Milford: 924 for 2025, 930 for 2024, 939 for 2023, 748 for 2022, 695 for 2021 and 670 for 2020.
- Georgetown: 609 for 2025, 514 for 2024, 448 for 2023, 385 for 2022, 343 for 2021 and 393 for 2020.
- Seaford: 537 for 2025, 823 for 2024, 628 for 2023, 744 for 2022, 683 for 2021 and 601 for 2020.
- Laurel: 399 for 2025, 388 for 2024, 368 for 2023, 350 for 2022, 370 for 2021 and 424 for 2020.
- Millsboro: 317 for 2025, 270 for 2024, 261 for 2023, 257 for 2022, 248 for 2021 and 304 for 2020.
- Dewey Beach: 173 for 2025 and 132 for 2022; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Bridgeville: 96 for 2025, 71 for 2024, 61 for 2023, 57 for 2022, 58 for 2021 and 62 for 2020.
- Lewes: 93 for 2025, 70 for 2024, 69 for 2023, 38 for 2022, 41 for 2021 and 31 for 2020.
- Rehoboth Beach: 82 for 2025, 93 for 2023, 108 for 2022, 83 for 2021 and 119 for 2019; 2020 and 2024 are missing months.
- Delmar: 81 for 2025, 66 for 2024, 41 for 2023, 31 for 2022, 42 for 2021 and 26 for 2020.
- Milton: 79 for 2025, 76 for 2024, 58 for 2023, 58 for 2022, 75 for 2021 and 73 for 2020.
- Bethany Beach: 63 for 2025, 94 for 2024, 54 for 2023, 48 for 2022, 41 for 2020 and 49 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the 20 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,645 arrests that year. The 18 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,390 in 2025 against 3,478 in 2024, down 2.5 percent.
Through May 2026, the 18 agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,249 arrests, against 1,352 in the same months of 2025.
South Bethany reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Sussex County Are Held
In Delaware the jails belong to the state. Anyone held after an arrest in Sussex County is booked into a facility of the Delaware Department of Correction, and the inmate lookup is the state's.
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 Sussex County
Whether someone was arrested in Sussex County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the Delaware Department of Correction's inmate locator, for anyone held; the case index of the Delaware Superior Court, Sussex County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courtconnect.courts.delaware.gov/cc/cconnect/ck_public_qry_main.cp_...); the Attorney General, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sussexcountyde.gov/attorney-generals-office, phone (302) 856-5353).
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 Sussex 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) 855-7700.
- An arrest in Milford, Seaford, Georgetown, Millsboro, Laurel, Milton or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Attorney General in Sussex County, Animal Welfare in Sussex County or the Sussex County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Attorney General, (302) 856-5353, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Delaware Superior Court, Sussex County, through the court records page at courtconnect.courts.delaware.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Bureau of Identification.
Cities in Sussex County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 21 of the 25 cities in Sussex County: the twelve named above and Rehoboth Beach, Greenwood, Bethany Beach, Dagsboro, Frankford, Ellendale, South Bethany, Dewey Beach and Fenwick Island. Millville, Bethel, Slaughter Beach and Henlopen Acres have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Sussex County each year?
Milford reported 924 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 20 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,645 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Sussex 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 Sussex County booked?
In a facility of the Delaware Department of Correction, which runs every jail in Delaware.
Are arrest records public in Sussex County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Delaware Superior Court, Sussex 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 Sussex 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.
Is this the official Sussex 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.