Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 23, 2026.
Howard County, Maryland, has about 340,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Maryland the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of the Circuit Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Criminal Justice Information System is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Howard County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Howard County public records, Howard County arrest records, Howard County warrants, Howard County court records, Howard County police reports, Maryland arrest records and Maryland inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Circuit Court for Howard County
In Maryland the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Howard County are heard by the Circuit Court for Howard County, which hears felonies, civil cases over $30,000, divorces, juvenile matters and appeals from the District Court; the District Court of Maryland takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, landlord-tenant cases and civil claims up to $30,000, and the file of each case is kept by the Clerk of the Circuit Court.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.state.md.us/clerks/howard/caserecords (page title: Case Records | Maryland Courts), phone 410-313-2111, 9250 Judicial Way, Ellicott City, MD 21043, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, Maryland Judiciary Case Search is the free statewide case search of every Maryland court.
The Maryland Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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 file in the Circuit Court for Howard County is the public record.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based request to the CJIS Central Repository. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at dpscs.maryland.gov/publicservs/bgchecks.shtml.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Howard County
The Howard County Sheriff's Office and the Howard County Police Department keep the arrest records in Howard County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Howard County: the Howard County State Police (state police); it keeps the records of its own arrests.
The Howard County Police Department reported 1,676 arrests to the FBI for 2024; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Howard County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Howard County in 2025
The two agencies in Howard County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 396 violent and 5,047 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,443 crimes in 2025 against 6,254 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Howard County public records guide.
The State's Attorney for Howard County
Charges in Howard County are filed by the State's Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Circuit Court for Howard County or the District Court of Maryland.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at cc.howardcountymd.gov/node/1097 (page title: State's Attorney's Office | Howard County), 3430 Court House Drive, Ellicott City, MD 21043, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Howard County
Registered sex offenders living in Howard County are listed on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry, run by the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services at dpscs.maryland.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Howard County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Maryland Public Information Act a county office must answer a request within 30 days, with a denial due within 10 working days, and it may charge staff time after the first two hours, plus copying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Howard County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Howard 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.
Can I search Howard County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.state.md.us/clerks/howard/caserecords (page title: Case Records | Maryland Courts). Statewide, Maryland Judiciary Case Search is the free statewide case search of every Maryland court.
How do I get my own Maryland criminal history?
Through a fingerprint-based request to the CJIS Central Repository.
Who prosecutes crimes in Howard County?
The State's Attorney, which files its cases in the Circuit Court for Howard County or the District Court of Maryland.
Is this the official Howard 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.