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 30, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Waldo County, Maine, has about 41,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Waldo County Sheriff's Office and three city 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Waldo 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: Waldo County public records, Maine arrest records, Maine inmate search and Maine criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Waldo County
The Waldo County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Waldo County. It reported 187 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Waldo County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Belfast, 6,993 residents: 154 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Waldo 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.
- Waldo County Sheriff's Office: 187 for 2025, 99 for 2024, 149 for 2023, 211 for 2022, 246 for 2021 and 288 for 2020.
- Belfast: 154 for 2025, 118 for 2024, 96 for 2023, 74 for 2022, 61 for 2021 and 56 for 2020.
- Islesboro: 1 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 4 for 2023, 6 for 2022, 1 for 2021 and 2 for 2020.
- Searsport: 6 for 2023, 9 for 2022, 0 for 2021, 20 for 2020 and 8 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 342 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 342 in 2025 against 217 in 2024, up 58 percent.
Searsport reported only part of 2025 (3 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Waldo County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Waldo 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 19 people, down from about 23 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 36 beds, and it ran at 53 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 Waldo County Sheriff's Office at waldocountyme.gov/176/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriff’s Office | Waldo County, ME), phone 207-338-6786, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Waldo County
An arrest in Waldo County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Waldo 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/waldo-sc.html, phone (207) 338-3107); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at waldocountyme.gov/183/District-Attorneys-Office, phone 207-338-2512).
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 Waldo 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 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 Waldo County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 207-338-6786.
- An arrest in Belfast: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 207-338-2512, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Waldo County Superior Court, through the court records page at courts.maine.gov, phone (207) 338-3107.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at waldocountyme.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/17 (page title: New FOAA Request Portal, Waldo County, ME).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Waldo County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Belfast, the one city in Waldo County. The FBI's list also carries the Islesboro Police Department and the Searsport Police Department as city agencies in Waldo County; Islesboro and Searsport 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 Waldo County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Waldo County each year?
The Waldo County Sheriff's Office reported 187 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 342 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Waldo County?
Ask the Waldo County Sheriff's Office at 207-338-6786; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at waldocountyme.gov/176/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Waldo County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Waldo County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Waldo 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 Waldo County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Waldo 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at waldocountyme.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/17.
Is this the official Waldo 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.