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.
St. Mary's County, Maryland, has about 116,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office and two campus, state or other agencies. 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 St. Mary's 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: St. Mary's County public records, Maryland arrest records, Maryland inmate search and Maryland criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in St. Mary's County
The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for St. Mary's County. It reported 1,792 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in St. Mary's County: the St. Mary's County State Police (state police); St. Mary's College (campus police).
How Many Arrests The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office: 1,792 for 2025, 1,970 for 2024, 1,874 for 2023, 1,663 for 2022, 2,978 for 2020 and 3,667 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office's 1,792 arrests in 2025 were down 9 percent from 1,970 in 2024.
Through June 2026, St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office reported 938 arrests, against 878 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in St. Mary's County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in St. Mary's 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 210 people, up from about 210 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 239 beds, and it ran at 87 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 St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office at publicportal.stmaryscountymd.gov (page title: St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Public Portal), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in St. Mary's County
An arrest in St. Mary's County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court for St. Mary's County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.state.md.us/clerks/stmarys/records, phone 301-475-7844); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at stmaryscountymd.gov/sao, phone (301) 475-4200).
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 St. Mary's 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 St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest by the St. Mary's County State Police or St. Mary's College: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (301) 475-4200, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court for St. Mary's County, through the court records page at courts.state.md.us/clerks/stmarys/records, phone 301-475-7844.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at stmaryscountysheriffmd.nextrequest.com (page title: Maryland Public Information Act RequestNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the CJIS Central Repository.
The other St. Mary's County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in St. Mary's County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in St. Mary's County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
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 St. Mary's County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in St. Mary's County each year?
The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office reported 1,792 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in St. Mary's County?
Ask the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at publicportal.stmaryscountymd.gov.
Where are people arrested in St. Mary's County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in St. Mary's County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for St. Mary's 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 St. Mary's County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the St. Mary's 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 stmaryscountysheriffmd.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official St. Mary's 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.