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.
Frederick County, Maryland, has about 299,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, three 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 Frederick 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: Frederick County public records, Maryland arrest records, Maryland inmate search and Maryland criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Frederick County
The Frederick County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Frederick County. It reported 2,672 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Frederick County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Frederick, 89,537 residents: 2,510 arrests reported for 2025.
- Brunswick, 9,015 residents: 30 arrests reported for 2025.
- Thurmont, 6,308 residents: 43 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 Mount Airy Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Frederick County, so its arrests are not broken out for Frederick County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Frederick County: the Frederick County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Frederick 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.
- Frederick County Sheriff's Office: 2,672 for 2025, 2,821 for 2024, 2,901 for 2023, 2,478 for 2022, 2,687 for 2020 and 5,724 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Frederick: 2,510 for 2025, 2,531 for 2024, 2,341 for 2023, 2,020 for 2022, 2,733 for 2020 and 5,614 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Thurmont: 43 for 2025, 32 for 2024, 29 for 2023, 25 for 2022, 59 for 2020 and 107 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Brunswick: 30 for 2025, 14 for 2024, 35 for 2023, 37 for 2022, 67 for 2020 and 145 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,255 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,255 in 2025 against 5,398 in 2024, down 2.6 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,880 arrests, against 3,161 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Frederick County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Frederick 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 280 people, down from about 300 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 412 beds, and it ran at 75 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 Frederick County Sheriff's Office at frederickcountymd.gov/677/Sheriff-Adult-Detention?NID=677 (page title: Sheriff 's Office | Frederick County MD), 110 Airport Drive East Frederick, MD 21701, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Frederick County
Whether someone was arrested in Frederick County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Circuit Court for Frederick County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mdcourts.gov/courtsdirectory/frederick, phone 301-600-1976); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at frederickcountymd.gov/m/directory/department?did=14, phone 301-600-1523).
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 Frederick 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 Frederick County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Frederick, Brunswick or Thurmont: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the Frederick 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, 301-600-1523, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court for Frederick County, through the court records page at mdcourts.gov/courtsdirectory/frederick, phone 301-600-1976.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at cityoffrederickmd.gov (page title: Request Public Records | The City of Frederick, MD).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the CJIS Central Repository.
Cities in Frederick County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the 11 cities in Frederick County: Frederick, Brunswick and Thurmont. Walkersville, Middletown, Emmitsburg, Myersville, New Market, Woodsboro, Rosemont and Burkittsville 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 Frederick County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Frederick County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Brunswick (9,015)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Frederick County each year?
The Frederick County Sheriff's Office reported 2,672 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,255 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Frederick County?
Ask the Frederick County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at frederickcountymd.gov.
Where are people arrested in Frederick County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Frederick County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Frederick County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Frederick 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 Frederick County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Frederick 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 cityoffrederickmd.gov.
Is this the official Frederick 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.