Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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). In New Hampshire the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the clerk of each court; the statewide criminal history kept by the New Hampshire State Police Criminal Records Unit is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Dover is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Dover public records, Strafford County criminal records, Dover arrest records, Dover warrants, Dover inmate search, Dover court records, New Hampshire arrest records and New Hampshire inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Strafford County Superior Court
A criminal case from Dover is filed in the Strafford County Superior Court or the Circuit Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and small claims in the District Division; divorces and family matters in the Family Division; estates in the Probate Division, and the court file, kept by the clerk of each court, is the record of it that the public may see.
For Strafford County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at courts.nh.gov/your-visit/find-court/strafford-superior-court (page title: Strafford Superior Court | New Hampshire Judicial Branch), phone 855-212-1234, 259 County Farm Road, Suite 301 Dover, NH 03820, Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
New Hampshire has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The New Hampshire Criminal History and Your Own Copy
The statewide criminal history kept by the New Hampshire State Police Criminal Records Unit is closed to the public in New Hampshire: it is released to its subject and to authorized employers and licensing agencies, and a member of the public uses the court's own case index instead.
To see your own record, the route is a notarized request to the Criminal Records Unit. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at nhsp.dos.nh.gov/our-services/criminal-records/criminal-history-reco....
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Dover
The Strafford County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Dover (filed by the FBI as Dover Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Dover: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
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); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the 14 agencies in Strafford County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,280 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Dover arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Dover in 2025
The agency that reports for Dover had 22 violent and 196 property crimes reported for 2025; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The County Attorney for Strafford County
Charges in Strafford County are filed by the County Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Strafford County Superior Court or the Circuit Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at co.strafford.nh.us/department/attorney-s-office (page title: Attorney's Office), phone (603) 749-2808, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Dover
Registered sex offenders living in Dover are listed on the New Hampshire Sex Offender Registry, run by the New Hampshire Department of Safety at business.nh.gov/nsor. Tier 2 and Tier 3 offenders are listed online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Strafford County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law a county office must answer a request within 5 business days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Dover criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.nh.gov (page title: Strafford Superior Court | New Hampshire Judicial Branch).
How do I get my own New Hampshire criminal history?
Through a notarized request to the Criminal Records Unit.
Who prosecutes crimes in Dover?
The County Attorney, reached at (603) 749-2808, which files its cases in the Strafford County Superior Court or the Circuit Court.
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.