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 September 30, 2026.
Cheshire County, New Hampshire, has about 78,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cheshire County Sheriff's Office, 16 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 Cheshire 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: Cheshire County public records, New Hampshire arrest records, New Hampshire inmate search and New Hampshire criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cheshire County
The Cheshire County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cheshire County. It reported 96 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Cheshire County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Keene, 23,036 residents: 1,037 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 Cheshire County: the Cheshire County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Cheshire County
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.
- Jaffrey: 232 for 2025, 425 for 2024, 228 for 2023, 167 for 2022, 175 for 2021 and 165 for 2020.
- Rindge: 184 for 2025, 151 for 2024, 95 for 2021, 99 for 2020 and 153 for 2019; 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Hinsdale: 134 for 2025, 134 for 2024, 123 for 2023, 122 for 2022, 172 for 2021 and 77 for 2020.
- Winchester: 103 for 2025, 47 for 2024, 74 for 2021, 98 for 2020 and 149 for 2019; 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Cheshire County Sheriff's Office: 96 for 2025, 87 for 2024, 76 for 2023, 63 for 2022, 56 for 2021 and 48 for 2020.
- Swanzey: 94 for 2025, 119 for 2024, 141 for 2023 and 89 for 2022.
- Fitzwilliam: 44 for 2025, 38 for 2024, 26 for 2023, 25 for 2022, 29 for 2021 and 38 for 2020.
- Walpole: 43 for 2025, 52 for 2024, 96 for 2023, 54 for 2022 and 54 for 2021.
- Dublin: 28 for 2025, 22 for 2024, 38 for 2022, 25 for 2021, 78 for 2020 and 3 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Chesterfield: 27 for 2025, 31 for 2024, 24 for 2023, 19 for 2022 and 24 for 2021.
- Troy: 16 for 2025, 22 for 2024, 15 for 2023, 16 for 2022, 19 for 2021 and 28 for 2020.
Together, the 15 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,040 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,040 in 2025 against 1,981 in 2024, up 3 percent.
Through June 2026, the 12 agencies with every month so far on file reported 787 arrests, against 840 in the same months of 2025.
Marlborough and Nelson reported only part of 2025 (11 months and 1 month) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cheshire County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Cheshire County 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 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 Cheshire County
An arrest in Cheshire County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: 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 Cheshire County
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 Cheshire County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (603) 835-2986.
- An arrest in Keene: 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 Cheshire 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) 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.
Cities in Cheshire County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Keene, the one city in Cheshire County. The FBI's list also carries the Alstead Police Department, the Chesterfield Police Department, the Dublin Police Department and 12 more as city agencies in Cheshire County; Alstead, Chesterfield, Dublin and 12 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 Cheshire County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Cheshire County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Keene (23,036)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cheshire County each year?
Keene reported 1,037 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 15 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,040 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cheshire County?
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 Cheshire County 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 Cheshire County?
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 Cheshire County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cheshire 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 Cheshire 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.