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 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Penobscot County, Maine, has about 157,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Penobscot County Sheriff's Office, 11 city agencies and one campus 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 Penobscot 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: Penobscot County public records, Maine arrest records, Maine inmate search and Maine criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Penobscot County
The Penobscot County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Penobscot County. It reported 508 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Bangor, 32,446 residents: 1,768 arrests reported for 2025.
- Brewer, 9,629 residents: 315 arrests reported for 2025.
- Old Town, 7,511 residents: 169 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 Penobscot County: the University of Maine at Orono (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Penobscot County
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.
- Bangor: 1,768 for 2025, 1,700 for 2024, 1,565 for 2023, 1,694 for 2022, 1,747 for 2021 and 2,654 for 2020.
- Penobscot County Sheriff's Office: 508 for 2025, 574 for 2024, 557 for 2023, 461 for 2022, 426 for 2021 and 663 for 2020.
- Brewer: 315 for 2025, 349 for 2024, 195 for 2023, 207 for 2022, 293 for 2021 and 477 for 2020.
- East Millinocket: 185 for 2025, 225 for 2024, 290 for 2023, 242 for 2022, 251 for 2021 and 138 for 2020.
- Old Town: 169 for 2025, 142 for 2024, 153 for 2023, 83 for 2022, 165 for 2021 and 227 for 2020.
- Dexter: 136 for 2025, 66 for 2024, 90 for 2022, 84 for 2021, 243 for 2020 and 94 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Orono: 75 for 2025, 85 for 2023, 102 for 2022, 113 for 2021, 306 for 2020 and 431 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Lincoln: 64 for 2025, 86 for 2024, 76 for 2023, 119 for 2022, 156 for 2021 and 136 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Newport: 58 for 2025, 37 for 2024, 50 for 2023, 51 for 2022, 33 for 2021 and 73 for 2020.
- Hampden: 55 for 2025, 58 for 2024, 51 for 2023, 19 for 2022, 53 for 2021 and 45 for 2020.
- Holden: 37 for 2025, 75 for 2024, 130 for 2023, 75 for 2022, 94 for 2021 and 130 for 2020.
- Veazie: 28 for 2025, 15 for 2024, 25 for 2023, 10 for 2022, 9 for 2021 and 17 for 2020.
Together, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,398 arrests that year. The 11 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,323 in 2025 against 3,327 in 2024, down 0.1 percent.
Through April 2026, the ten agencies with every month so far on file reported 807 arrests, against 918 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Penobscot County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Penobscot 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 140 people, down from about 190 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 157 beds, and it ran at 122 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 Penobscot County Sheriff's Office at penobscot-sheriff.net/inmates (page title: Inmate Search | Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office), 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 Penobscot County
An arrest in Penobscot County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Penobscot County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Penobscot 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/penobscot-sc.html, phone (207) 561-2300); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at penobscot-county.net/government/elected_officials/district_attorney..., phone (207) 942-8535).
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 Penobscot 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 Penobscot County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Bangor, Brewer or Old Town: 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 University of Maine at Orono: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (207) 942-8535, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Penobscot County Superior Court, through the court records page at courts.maine.gov, phone (207) 561-2300.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Penobscot County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Penobscot County: Bangor, Brewer and Old Town. The FBI's list also carries the Lincoln Police Department, the Orono Police Department, the Hampden Police Department and five more as city agencies in Penobscot County; Lincoln, Orono, Hampden and five 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 Penobscot County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Penobscot County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Bangor (32,446)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Penobscot County each year?
Bangor reported 1,768 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 12 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,398 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Penobscot County?
Look on the custody page of the Penobscot County Sheriff's Office at penobscot-sheriff.net/inmates. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Penobscot County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Penobscot County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Penobscot 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 Penobscot County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Penobscot 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 Penobscot 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.