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 between September 23, 2026 and September 28, 2026.
Montgomery County, Maryland, has about 1.1 million 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 Montgomery 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, directory links and common questions.
Related guides: Montgomery County public records, Montgomery County arrest records, Montgomery County warrants, Montgomery County inmate search, Montgomery County court records, Maryland arrest records and Maryland inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County
A criminal case from Montgomery County is filed in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County or the District Court of Maryland, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, landlord-tenant cases and civil claims up to $30,000, and the court file, kept by the Clerk of the Circuit Court, is the record of it that the public may see.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at montgomerycountymd.gov/circuit-court/how-do-i/viewing-cases-making-... (page title: Viewing Cases and Making Copies | Circuit Court | Montgomery County, MD), phone 240-777-9501, 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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery County
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, the Montgomery County Police Department and the agencies that report for Gaithersburg, Rockville, Takoma Park and Chevy Chase Village keep the arrest records in Montgomery 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 these agencies in Montgomery County: the Montgomery County Maryland-National Capital Park Police (other agency); the Montgomery County State Police (state police); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the six agencies in Montgomery County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,245 arrests to the FBI that year; 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 Montgomery County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Montgomery County in 2025
The six agencies in Montgomery County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,833 violent and 16,799 property crimes to the FBI that year; the five of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 17,965 crimes in 2025 against 20,191 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 Montgomery County public records guide.
The State's Attorney for Montgomery County
The State's Attorney decides which arrests in Montgomery County become charges and files them in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County or the District Court of Maryland; the office answers questions about pending prosecutions, and the case files themselves are court records.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at montgomerycountymd.gov/states-attorneys-office (page title: The State's Attorney's Office | Montgomery County, MD), phone 240-777-7300, 50 Maryland Avenue, 5th Floor, North Tower Rockville, MD 20850, Monday - Friday: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Montgomery County
Registered sex offenders living in Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at montgomerycountymd.gov/montgomery-county-police-department/how-do-i... (page title: MPIA Records Request | Montgomery County Police Department | Montgomery County, MD).
More Official Criminal Records Pages for Montgomery County
The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Montgomery County and Maryland. These criminal records pages from its Montgomery County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:
- Daily Arrests (data.montgomerycountymd.gov)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Montgomery County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Montgomery 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 Montgomery County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at montgomerycountymd.gov (page title: Viewing Cases and Making Copies | Circuit Court | Montgomery County, MD). 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 Montgomery County?
The State's Attorney, reached at 240-777-7300, which files its cases in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County or the District Court of Maryland.
Is this the official Montgomery 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.