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 26, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Manchester, New Hampshire, in Hillsborough County, has about 116,000 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 Hillsborough 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: Manchester public records, Hillsborough County arrest records, New Hampshire arrest records and New Hampshire inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Manchester
The FBI lists Manchester with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Manchester Police Department. It reported 2,979 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 Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,196 arrests for 2024.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Hillsborough County: the Hillsborough County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Manchester Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Manchester: 2,979 for 2025, 3,049 for 2024, 2,873 for 2023, 3,093 for 2022, 3,065 for 2021 and 2,983 for 2020.
Manchester's 2,979 arrests in 2025 were down 2.3 percent from 3,049 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Manchester reported 2,087 arrests, against 1,964 in the same months of 2025.
Across Hillsborough County, the 25 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,065 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Manchester Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Manchester 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 340 people, up from about 320 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 735 beds, and it ran at 46 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 Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at hcnh.org/Departments/Sheriffs-Office-Main (page title: Sheriff's Office | Main), phone (603) 627-5610, 329 Mast Road Goffstown, NH 03045, Monday to Friday 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Manchester
An arrest in Manchester can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Hillsborough 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/hillsborough-superior-court, phone 855-212-1234); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at hcnh.org/Departments/County-Attorneys-Office).
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 Manchester
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 Manchester police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at manchesternh.gov/Departments/Police/Legal-and-Professional-Standard... (page title: Records), phone (603) 792-5482, Monday and Friday 7:30 AM-12:00 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (603) 627-5610.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough County guide covers every agency in the county: Hillsborough County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Manchester each year?
Manchester reported 2,979 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Manchester?
Ask the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at (603) 627-5610; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hcnh.org/Departments/Sheriffs-Office-Main.
Where are people arrested in Manchester booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Manchester?
The court files of criminal cases in the Hillsborough 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 Manchester?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Manchester police for its own arrests, the Hillsborough 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 Manchester 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.