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.
Keene, New Hampshire, in Cheshire County, has about 23,000 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 Cheshire 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: Keene public records, Cheshire County arrest records, New Hampshire arrest records and New Hampshire inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Keene
The FBI lists Keene with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Keene Police Department. It reported 1,037 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 Cheshire County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 96 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Cheshire County: the Cheshire County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Keene 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.
- Keene: 1,037 for 2025, 853 for 2024, 913 for 2022, 947 for 2021, 812 for 2020 and 1,168 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
Keene's 1,037 arrests in 2025 were up 22 percent from 853 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Keene reported 691 arrests, against 681 in the same months of 2025.
Across Cheshire County, the 15 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,040 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Keene Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Keene 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 2023 the jail held about 110 people, down from about 150 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 230 beds, and it ran at 65 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 Cheshire County Sheriff's Office at co.cheshire.nh.us/inmate-list (page title: Inmate List -Cheshire County), phone (603) 835-2986, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the New Hampshire Department of Corrections lists its inmates at business.nh.gov/inmate_locator.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Keene
Whether someone was arrested in Keene, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Cheshire County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Cheshire 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/cheshire-superior-court, phone 855-212-1234); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.cheshire.nh.us/departments/county-attorney, phone (603) 352-0056).
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 Keene
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Keene police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at keenenh.gov/public-records-faq (page title: Public Records FAQ | City of Keene), phone (603) 357-9815, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Cheshire County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (603) 835-2986.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (603) 352-0056, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Cheshire 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 Cheshire County guide covers every agency in the county: Cheshire County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Keene each year?
Keene reported 1,037 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Keene?
Look on the custody page of the Cheshire County Sheriff's Office at co.cheshire.nh.us/inmate-list, or call (603) 835-2986. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Keene booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cheshire County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Keene?
The court files of criminal cases in the Cheshire 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 Keene?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Keene police for its own arrests, the Cheshire 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 Keene 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.