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.
Dorchester County, Maryland, has about 33,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office, two 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 Dorchester 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: Dorchester County public records, Maryland arrest records, Maryland inmate search and Maryland criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Dorchester County
The Dorchester County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Dorchester County. It reported 181 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Cambridge, 13,262 residents: 380 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hurlock, 2,093 residents: 42 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 Dorchester County: the Dorchester County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Dorchester 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.
- Cambridge: 380 for 2025, 1,278 for 2020 and 1,519 for 2019; 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Dorchester County Sheriff's Office: 181 for 2025, 172 for 2024, 181 for 2023, 856 for 2022, 964 for 2020 and 1,281 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Hurlock: 42 for 2025, 40 for 2024, 55 for 2023, 49 for 2022, 56 for 2020 and 72 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 603 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 223 in 2025 against 212 in 2024, up 5.2 percent.
Through May 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 248 arrests, against 250 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dorchester County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Dorchester 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 93 people, down from about 140 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 281 beds, and it ran at 37 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office at docosheriff.com/inmateSearch (page title: Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office (MD)), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Dorchester County
An arrest in Dorchester County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Circuit Court for Dorchester County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mdcourts.gov/clerks/dorchester/records, phone 410-228-0481).
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 Dorchester 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 Dorchester County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Cambridge or Hurlock: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Dorchester County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court for Dorchester County, through the court records page at mdcourts.gov/clerks/dorchester/records, phone 410-228-0481.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the CJIS Central Repository.
Cities in Dorchester County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the nine cities in Dorchester County: Cambridge and Hurlock. Secretary, East New Market, Vienna, Galestown, Church Creek, Brookview and Eldorado 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 Dorchester County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dorchester County each year?
Cambridge reported 380 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 603 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dorchester County?
Look on the custody page of the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office at docosheriff.com/inmateSearch. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Dorchester County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dorchester County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Dorchester 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 Dorchester County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dorchester 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 Dorchester 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.