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. 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 on September 23, 2026.
Cecil County, Maryland, has about 106,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cecil County Sheriff's Office, four city agencies and one state agency. An arrest 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 Cecil 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: Cecil County public records, Maryland arrest records, Maryland inmate search and Maryland criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cecil County
The Cecil County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cecil County. It reported 1,161 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Cecil County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Elkton, 15,977 residents: 925 arrests reported for 2025.
- Perryville, 4,510 residents: 170 arrests reported for 2025.
- North East, 4,191 residents: 79 arrests reported for 2025.
- Rising Sun, 2,777 residents: 133 arrests reported for 2024.
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 one more agency in Cecil County: the Cecil County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Cecil 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.
- Cecil County Sheriff's Office: 1,161 for 2025, 1,061 for 2024, 1,109 for 2023, 1,094 for 2022, 3,058 for 2020 and 3,331 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Elkton: 925 for 2025, 1,195 for 2024, 1,156 for 2023, 1,032 for 2022 and 2,226 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Perryville: 170 for 2025, 171 for 2024, 750 for 2020 and 583 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- North East: 79 for 2025, 79 for 2024, 126 for 2023, 120 for 2022, 184 for 2020 and 231 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Rising Sun: 133 for 2024, 205 for 2020 and 249 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,335 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,335 in 2025 against 2,506 in 2024, down 6.8 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 689 arrests, against 720 in the same months of 2025.
Rising Sun reported only part of 2025 (7 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cecil County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Cecil County 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 180 people, down from about 270 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 233 beds, and it ran at 73 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 Cecil County Sheriff's Office at cecilcountymd.gov/953/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Cecil County, MD), phone 410-996-5500, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Cecil County
For Cecil County the place to look is the case index of the Circuit Court for Cecil County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mdcourts.gov/courtsdirectory/cecil, phone 888-287-0576).
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 Cecil County
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 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 Cecil County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 410-996-5500.
- An arrest in Elkton, Perryville, North East or Rising Sun: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Cecil County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court for Cecil County, through the court records page at mdcourts.gov/courtsdirectory/cecil, phone 888-287-0576.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at cecilcountymd.gov (page title: Public Information Request | Cecil County, MD).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the CJIS Central Repository.
Cities in Cecil County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the eight cities in Cecil County: Elkton, Perryville, North East and Rising Sun. Charlestown, Chesapeake City, Cecilton and Port Deposit have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Circuit Court for Cecil County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cecil County each year?
The Cecil County Sheriff's Office reported 1,161 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,335 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cecil County?
Ask the Cecil County Sheriff's Office at 410-996-5500; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at cecilcountymd.gov/953/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Cecil County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cecil County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cecil County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Cecil 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 Cecil County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cecil County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 cecilcountymd.gov.
Is this the official Cecil 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.