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 September 30, 2026.
Worcester County, Maryland, has about 54,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Worcester County Sheriff's Office, five 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 Worcester 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: Worcester County public records, Maryland arrest records, Maryland inmate search and Maryland criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Worcester County
The Worcester County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Worcester County. It reported 1,009 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Worcester County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Ocean City, 6,884 residents: 1,459 arrests reported for 2025.
- Berlin, 5,349 residents: 44 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pocomoke City, 4,426 residents: 109 arrests reported for 2025.
- Snow Hill, 2,243 residents: 4 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 Worcester County: the Worcester County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Worcester 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.
- Ocean City: 1,459 for 2025, 1,574 for 2024, 1,549 for 2023, 2,401 for 2022 and 4,444 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Worcester County Sheriff's Office: 1,009 for 2025, 1,053 for 2024, 999 for 2023, 1,195 for 2020 and 1,792 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Pocomoke City: 109 for 2025, 127 for 2024, 129 for 2023, 230 for 2022, 170 for 2020 and 158 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Berlin: 44 for 2025, 22 for 2024, 4 for 2023, 125 for 2022, 62 for 2020 and 76 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Ocean Pines: 21 for 2025, 15 for 2024, 34 for 2023, 42 for 2022, 120 for 2020 and 118 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Snow Hill: 4 for 2025, 9 for 2024, 11 for 2023, 40 for 2022, 20 for 2020 and 24 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,646 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,646 in 2025 against 2,800 in 2024, down 5.5 percent.
Through June 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,311 arrests, against 1,270 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Worcester County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Worcester 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 120 people, down from about 300 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 500 beds, and it ran at 25 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 Worcester County Sheriff's Office at worcestermd.gov/departments/sheriffs-office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Worcester County), phone (410) 632-1111, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Worcester County
An arrest in Worcester County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court for Worcester County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mdcourts.gov/clerks/worcester/links, phone 410-632-5500); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at worcestersao.com/about-us).
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 Worcester 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 Worcester County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (410) 632-1111.
- An arrest in Ocean City, Berlin, Pocomoke City or Snow Hill: 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 Worcester 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 handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court for Worcester County, through the court records page at mdcourts.gov/clerks/worcester/links, phone 410-632-5500.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at worcestermd.gov/commissioners/requests (page title: Public Information Requests | Worcester County).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the CJIS Central Repository.
Cities in Worcester County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the four cities in Worcester County: Ocean City, Berlin, Pocomoke City and Snow Hill. The FBI's list also carries the Ocean Pines Police Department as a city agency in Worcester County; Ocean Pines is not among the cities above.
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 Worcester County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Worcester County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Ocean City (6,884)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Worcester County each year?
Ocean City reported 1,459 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,646 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Worcester County?
Ask the Worcester County Sheriff's Office at (410) 632-1111; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at worcestermd.gov/departments/sheriffs-office.
Where are people arrested in Worcester County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Worcester County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Worcester County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Worcester 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 Worcester County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Worcester 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 worcestermd.gov/commissioners/requests.
Is this the official Worcester 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.