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 between September 23, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Charles County, Maryland, has about 174,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Charles County Sheriff's Office, one city agency 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 Charles 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: Charles County public records, Maryland arrest records, Maryland inmate search and Maryland criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Charles County
The Charles County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Charles County. It reported 1,482 arrests for 2025.
One city in Charles County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- La Plata, 11,374 residents: 114 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 one more agency in Charles County: the Charles County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Charles 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.
- Charles County Sheriff's Office: 1,482 for 2025, 1,565 for 2024, 1,595 for 2023, 1,872 for 2022, 3,276 for 2020 and 5,301 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- La Plata: 114 for 2025, 177 for 2024, 213 for 2023, 419 for 2020 and 534 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,596 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,596 in 2025 against 1,742 in 2024, down 8.4 percent.
Through March 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 358 arrests, against 371 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Charles County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Charles County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 220 people, down from about 260 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 422 beds, and it ran at 61 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 Charles County Sheriff's Office at ccso.us/about (page title: About | Charles County Sheriff's Office), phone 301-609-6249, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Charles County
Whether someone was arrested in Charles County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Circuit Court for Charles County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.state.md.us/courtsdirectory/charles, phone 301-932-3201); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at ccsao.us/the-office/executive-team).
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 Charles 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 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 Charles County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 301-609-6249.
- An arrest in La Plata: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Charles County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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 Charles County, through the court records page at courts.state.md.us/courtsdirectory/charles, phone 301-932-3201.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the CJIS Central Repository.
The other Charles County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Charles County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Charles County: La Plata. Indian Head and Port Tobacco Village 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 Charles County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Charles County each year?
The Charles County Sheriff's Office reported 1,482 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,596 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Charles County?
Ask the Charles County Sheriff's Office at 301-609-6249; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ccso.us/about.
Where are people arrested in Charles County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Charles County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Charles County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Charles 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 Charles County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Charles 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.
Is this the official Charles 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.