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 October 2, 2026.
Belknap County, New Hampshire, has about 65,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Belknap County Sheriff's Office, 11 city agencies and one state agency. 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 County Attorney files charges, a case in the Belknap 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: Belknap County public records, New Hampshire arrest records, New Hampshire inmate search and New Hampshire criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Belknap County
The Belknap County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Belknap County. It reported 390 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Belknap County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Laconia, 17,310 residents: 1,093 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Belknap County: the Belknap County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Belknap County
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.
- Laconia: 1,093 for 2025, 1,066 for 2024, 1,027 for 2023, 1,151 for 2022, 1,153 for 2021 and 1,011 for 2020.
- Gilford: 602 for 2025, 702 for 2024, 693 for 2023, 661 for 2022, 455 for 2021 and 262 for 2020.
- Belknap County Sheriff's Office: 390 for 2025, 415 for 2024, 452 for 2023, 390 for 2022, 369 for 2021 and 513 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Tilton: 387 for 2025, 316 for 2024, 268 for 2023, 175 for 2022, 253 for 2021 and 311 for 2020.
- Belmont: 175 for 2025, 177 for 2024, 361 for 2022, 442 for 2021, 378 for 2020 and 490 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Meredith: 120 for 2025, 191 for 2024, 192 for 2023, 146 for 2022, 162 for 2021 and 153 for 2020.
- Alton: 89 for 2025, 117 for 2024, 103 for 2023, 110 for 2022, 95 for 2021 and 145 for 2020.
- New Hampton: 83 for 2025, 130 for 2024, 103 for 2022, 79 for 2021 and 85 for 2019; 2020 and 2023 are missing months.
- Barnstead: 76 for 2025, 54 for 2024, 56 for 2023, 65 for 2022, 49 for 2021 and 55 for 2020.
- Gilmanton: 39 for 2025, 55 for 2024, 56 for 2023, 79 for 2022, 49 for 2021 and 59 for 2020.
- Sanbornton: 33 for 2025, 16 for 2024, 42 for 2022, 50 for 2021, 46 for 2020 and 56 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Center Harbor: 24 for 2025, 19 for 2024, 17 for 2023, 22 for 2021, 28 for 2020 and 16 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,111 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,111 in 2025 against 3,258 in 2024, down 4.5 percent.
Through July 2026, the 11 agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,808 arrests, against 1,836 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Belknap County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Belknap County 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 91 people, down from about 93 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 144 beds, and it ran at 63 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 Belknap County Sheriff's Office at belknapcounty.gov/212/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Belknap County, NH), phone 603-527-5454, 42 County Dr Laconia, NH 03246, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Belknap County
For Belknap County the place to look is the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at belknapcounty.gov/221/County-Attorney, phone 603-527-5440).
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 Belknap 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 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 Belknap County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 603-527-5454.
- An arrest in Laconia: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the Belknap County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, 603-527-5440, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a notarized request to the Criminal Records Unit.
Cities in Belknap County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Laconia, the one city in Belknap County. The FBI's list also carries the Alton Police Department, the Barnstead Police Department, the Belmont Police Department and seven more as city agencies in Belknap County; Alton, Barnstead, Belmont and seven 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 Belknap County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Belknap County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Laconia (17,310)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Belknap County each year?
Laconia reported 1,093 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 12 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,111 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Belknap County?
Ask the Belknap County Sheriff's Office at 603-527-5454; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at belknapcounty.gov/212/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Belknap County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Belknap County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Belknap County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Belknap 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 Belknap County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Belknap County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law the answer is due within 5 business days.
Is this the official Belknap 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.