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 28, 2026.
York County, Maine, has about 220,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the York County Sheriff's Office and 15 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 York 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: York County public records, Maine arrest records, Maine inmate search and Maine criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in York County
The York County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for York County. It reported 438 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:
- Sanford, 22,497 residents: 678 arrests reported for 2025.
- Biddeford, 22,370 residents: 750 arrests reported for 2025.
- Saco, 21,064 residents: 345 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 York 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.
- Biddeford: 750 for 2025, 597 for 2024, 831 for 2023, 750 for 2022, 792 for 2021 and 749 for 2020.
- Sanford: 678 for 2025, 799 for 2024, 715 for 2023, 635 for 2022, 590 for 2021 and 526 for 2020.
- Old Orchard Beach: 488 for 2025, 770 for 2023, 585 for 2022, 615 for 2021, 365 for 2020 and 573 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- York County Sheriff's Office: 438 for 2025, 467 for 2024, 516 for 2023, 471 for 2022, 521 for 2021 and 659 for 2020.
- Saco: 345 for 2025, 420 for 2024, 613 for 2023, 663 for 2022, 506 for 2021 and 502 for 2020.
- Wells: 315 for 2025, 357 for 2024, 293 for 2023, 331 for 2022, 241 for 2021 and 168 for 2020.
- York: 223 for 2025, 157 for 2024, 190 for 2023, 199 for 2022, 269 for 2021 and 292 for 2020.
- Kittery: 166 for 2025, 151 for 2024, 190 for 2023, 247 for 2022, 184 for 2021 and 155 for 2020.
- Buxton: 133 for 2025, 178 for 2024, 231 for 2023, 209 for 2022, 191 for 2021 and 246 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Kennebunk: 119 for 2025, 95 for 2024, 110 for 2023, 93 for 2022, 103 for 2021 and 133 for 2020.
- Berwick: 115 for 2025, 159 for 2024, 100 for 2023, 87 for 2022, 125 for 2021 and 163 for 2020.
- North Berwick: 110 for 2025, 142 for 2024, 174 for 2023, 122 for 2022, 122 for 2021 and 123 for 2020.
Together, the 16 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,061 arrests that year. The 15 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,573 in 2025 against 3,693 in 2024, down 3.2 percent.
Through June 2026, the 13 agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,069 arrests, against 1,252 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in York County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in York 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 2019 the jail held about 180 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 298 beds, and it ran at 59 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 York County Sheriff's Office at inmatesinjail.yorkcountygov.com/detentioncenter/inmatesinjail.aspx (page title: York County Detention Center Inmates), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Maine Department of Corrections lists its inmates at apps1.web.maine.gov/online/correctionssearch.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in York County
Whether someone was arrested in York County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the York 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/ecourts/access.html); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at yorkcountymaine.gov/district-attorney, phone 207-324-8001).
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 York 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 York County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Sanford, Biddeford or Saco: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 207-324-8001, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the York County Superior Court, through the court records page at courts.maine.gov/ecourts/access.html.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in York County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in York County: Sanford, Biddeford and Saco. The FBI's list also carries the Old Orchard Beach Police Department, the Berwick Police Department, the Eliot Police Department and nine more as city agencies in York County; Old Orchard Beach, Berwick, Eliot and nine 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 York County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in York County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in York County each year?
Biddeford reported 750 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 16 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,061 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in York County?
Ask the York County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at inmatesinjail.yorkcountygov.com.
Where are people arrested in York County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the York County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in York 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 York County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the York 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 York 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.