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. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Ocean City, Maryland, in Worcester County, has about 6,900 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 the county jail, and, if the State's Attorney files charges, a case in the Circuit Court for Worcester 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: Ocean City public records, Worcester County arrest records, Maryland arrest records and Maryland inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Ocean City
The FBI lists Ocean City with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Ocean City Police Department. It reported 1,459 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.
Outside the city, the Worcester County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,009 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Worcester County: the Worcester County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Ocean City Reports
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.
- Ocean City: 1,459 for 2025, 1,574 for 2024, 1,549 for 2023, 2,401 for 2022 and 4,444 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
Ocean City's 1,459 arrests in 2025 were down 7.3 percent from 1,574 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Ocean City reported 993 arrests, against 983 in the same months of 2025.
Across Worcester County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,646 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ocean City Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Ocean City and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 120 people, down from about 300 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 500 beds, and it ran at 25 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Worcester County Sheriff's Office at worcestermd.gov/departments/sheriffs-office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Worcester County), phone (410) 632-1111, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Ocean City
An arrest in Ocean City can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court for Worcester County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mdcourts.gov/clerks/worcester/links, phone 410-632-5500); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at worcestersao.com/about-us).
Statewide, Maryland Judiciary Case Search is the free statewide case search of every Maryland court.
Maryland does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Criminal Justice Information System 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 Ocean City
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Maryland Public Information Act the agency must answer within 30 days, with a denial due within 10 working days, and it may charge staff time after the first two hours, plus copying.
- An arrest by the Ocean City police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at oceancitymd.gov/oc/departments/police/crime-reports (page title: Crime Reports | Town of Ocean City, MD | Official Government and Visitor Information), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Worcester County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (410) 632-1111.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court for Worcester County, through the court records page at mdcourts.gov/clerks/worcester/links, phone 410-632-5500.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at worcestermd.gov/commissioners/requests (page title: Public Information Requests | Worcester County).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the CJIS Central Repository.
The Worcester County guide covers every agency in the county: Worcester County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ocean City each year?
Ocean City reported 1,459 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ocean City?
Ask the Worcester County Sheriff's Office at (410) 632-1111; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at worcestermd.gov/departments/sheriffs-office.
Where are people arrested in Ocean City booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Worcester County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ocean City?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Worcester County are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Criminal Justice Information System is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Maryland Public Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Ocean City?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ocean City police for its own arrests, the Worcester County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Maryland Public Information Act the answer is due within 30 days, with a denial due within 10 working days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at worcestermd.gov/commissioners/requests.
Is this the official Ocean City 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.