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 24, 2026.
Kennebec County, Maine, has about 128,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office, nine 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Kennebec County Superior Court. 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: Kennebec County public records, Maine arrest records, Maine inmate search and Maine criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Kennebec County
The Kennebec County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Kennebec County. It reported 518 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Augusta, 19,168 residents: 842 arrests reported for 2025.
- Waterville, 17,336 residents: 1,013 arrests reported for 2025.
- Gardiner, 6,160 residents: 210 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hallowell, 2,619 residents: 127 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 Kennebec County: the Bureau of Capitol Police (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Kennebec 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.
- Waterville: 1,013 for 2025, 1,063 for 2024, 1,211 for 2023, 1,183 for 2022, 1,129 for 2021 and 1,325 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Augusta: 842 for 2025, 798 for 2024, 989 for 2023, 844 for 2022, 829 for 2021 and 1,061 for 2020.
- Kennebec County Sheriff's Office: 518 for 2025, 647 for 2024, 741 for 2023, 634 for 2022, 603 for 2021 and 620 for 2020.
- Gardiner: 210 for 2025, 154 for 2024, 159 for 2023, 178 for 2022, 129 for 2021 and 240 for 2020.
- Hallowell: 127 for 2025, 62 for 2024, 95 for 2022, 65 for 2020 and 91 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
- Oakland: 117 for 2025, 103 for 2024, 42 for 2021 and 116 for 2019; 2020, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Winslow: 102 for 2025, 117 for 2024, 138 for 2023, 202 for 2022, 165 for 2021 and 201 for 2020.
- Monmouth: 36 for 2025, 37 for 2024, 36 for 2023, 60 for 2022, 62 for 2021 and 64 for 2020.
- Clinton: 30 for 2025, 63 for 2024, 55 for 2023, 64 for 2022, 46 for 2021 and 96 for 2020.
- Winthrop: 70 for 2024, 63 for 2023, 78 for 2022, 98 for 2021 and 100 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,995 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,995 in 2025 against 3,044 in 2024, down 1.6 percent.
Through March 2026, the seven agencies with every month so far on file reported 631 arrests, against 757 in the same months of 2025.
Winthrop reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Kennebec County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Kennebec 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 2023 the jail held about 150 people, down from about 150 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 167 beds, and it ran at 89 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office at kennebec.gov/sheriff/corrections/inmates-current (page title: Current Inmates | Kennebec County Sheriff's Office), phone (207) 623-2270, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Maine Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at apps1.web.maine.gov/online/correctionssearch.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Kennebec County
An arrest in Kennebec County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Kennebec County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.maine.gov/courts/superior/kennebec-sc.html, phone (207) 213-2800).
Maine is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: conviction records are public and can be requested on anyone by name, through the Maine State Police State Bureau of Identification. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Kennebec 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 Maine Freedom of Access Act the agency must answer within a reasonable time, after acknowledging the request within 5 working days, and it may charge staff time after the first two hours, plus copying.
- An arrest by the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (207) 623-2270.
- An arrest in Augusta, Waterville, Gardiner or Hallowell: 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 Bureau of Capitol Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Kennebec County Superior Court, through the court records page at courts.maine.gov, phone (207) 213-2800.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Kennebec County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the four cities in Kennebec County: Augusta, Waterville, Gardiner and Hallowell. The FBI's list also carries the Winslow Police Department, the Winthrop Police Department, the Oakland Police Department and two more as city agencies in Kennebec County; Winslow, Winthrop, Oakland and two more are 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 Kennebec County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Kennebec County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Augusta (19,168)
- Waterville (17,336)
- Gardiner (6,160)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Kennebec County each year?
Waterville reported 1,013 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the nine agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,995 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Kennebec County?
Look on the custody page of the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office at kennebec.gov, or call (207) 623-2270. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Kennebec County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Kennebec County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Maine State Police State Bureau of Identification: conviction records are public and can be requested on anyone by name. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Maine Freedom of Access Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Kennebec County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Maine Freedom of Access Act the answer is due within a reasonable time, after acknowledging the request within 5 working days.
Is this the official Kennebec 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.