Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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.
Dover, New Hampshire, in Strafford County, has about 34,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the County Attorney files charges, a case in the Strafford County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Dover public records, Strafford County arrest records, New Hampshire arrest records and New Hampshire inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Dover
The FBI lists Dover with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Dover Police Department. It reported 746 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Strafford County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 66 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Strafford County: the Strafford County State Police (state police); the University of New Hampshire (campus police).
How Many Arrests Dover Reports
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.
- Dover: 746 for 2025, 895 for 2024, 618 for 2023, 600 for 2021, 753 for 2020 and 744 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
Dover's 746 arrests in 2025 were down 17 percent from 895 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Dover reported 395 arrests, against 445 in the same months of 2025.
Across Strafford County, the 14 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,280 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dover Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Dover 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 310 people, down from about 440 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 399 beds, and it ran at 78 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 Strafford County Sheriff's Office at co.strafford.nh.us/jail-home-page (page title: Jail Home Page), phone (603) 742-3310, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at business.nh.gov/inmate_locator.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Dover
Whether someone was arrested in Dover, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Strafford County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.nh.gov/your-visit/find-court/strafford-superior-court, phone 855-212-1234); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.strafford.nh.us/department/attorney-s-office, phone (603) 749-2808).
New Hampshire does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the New Hampshire State Police Criminal Records Unit 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 Dover
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 New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law the agency must answer within 5 business days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
- An arrest by the Dover police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at dover.nh.gov/government/city-operations/police/citizen-online-repor... (page title: Citizen Online Reporting), phone 603-742-4646, 288 Central Ave., Dover, NH 03820, Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Strafford County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (603) 742-3310.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (603) 749-2808, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Strafford County Superior Court, through the court records page at courts.nh.gov, phone 855-212-1234.
- Your own statewide record: a notarized request to the Criminal Records Unit.
The Strafford County guide covers every agency in the county: Strafford County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dover each year?
Dover reported 746 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dover?
Ask the Strafford County Sheriff's Office at (603) 742-3310; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.strafford.nh.us/jail-home-page.
Where are people arrested in Dover booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Strafford County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dover?
The court files of criminal cases in the Strafford County Superior Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the New Hampshire State Police Criminal Records Unit is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Dover?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Dover police for its own arrests, the Strafford County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law the answer is due within 5 business days.
Is this the official Dover website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.