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.
Coos County, New Hampshire, has about 31,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by seven 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 Coos 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: Coos County public records, New Hampshire arrest records, New Hampshire inmate search and New Hampshire criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Coos County
The Sheriff's Department - Coos county, NH is the county law enforcement agency of Coos County.
One city in Coos County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Berlin, 9,248 residents: 429 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 Coos County: the Coos County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Coos 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.
- Berlin: 429 for 2025, 436 for 2024, 548 for 2022, 545 for 2021, 550 for 2020 and 481 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Lancaster: 109 for 2025, 126 for 2024, 90 for 2023, 100 for 2021, 98 for 2020 and 86 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Gorham: 92 for 2025, 87 for 2024, 74 for 2023, 143 for 2022, 78 for 2021 and 86 for 2020.
- Colebrook: 88 for 2025, 94 for 2024, 82 for 2023, 96 for 2022 and 80 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Whitefield: 54 for 2025, 63 for 2024, 61 for 2023, 25 for 2022, 36 for 2021 and 36 for 2020.
- Carroll: 21 for 2025, 24 for 2024, 22 for 2023, 14 for 2022, 28 for 2021 and 52 for 2020.
- Pittsburg: 11 for 2025, 13 for 2024, 3 for 2023, 1 for 2022, 5 for 2020 and 9 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 804 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 804 in 2025 against 843 in 2024, down 4.6 percent.
Through July 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 450 arrests, against 416 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Coos County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Coos 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 19 people, down from about 35 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 61 beds, and it ran at 31 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 Sheriff's Department - Coos county, NH at cooscountynh.gov/government/departments/sheriffs_department.php (page title: Coos county, NH), phone (603) 788-5598, 55 School Street Suite 101 Lancaster, NH 03584, Mon 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, 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 Coos County
Whether someone was arrested in Coos County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Coos 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/coos-superior-court, phone 855-212-1234); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at cooscountynh.gov/government/departments/county_attorney.php, phone (603) 788-5559).
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 Coos 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 Sheriff's Department - Coos county, NH: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (603) 788-5598.
- An arrest in Berlin: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Coos 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) 788-5559, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Coos 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 Coos County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Berlin, the one city in Coos County. The FBI's list also carries the Carroll Police Department, the Colebrook Police Department, the Gorham Police Department and three more as city agencies in Coos County; Carroll, Colebrook, Gorham and three 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 Coos County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Coos County each year?
Berlin reported 429 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 804 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Coos County?
Ask the Sheriff's Department - Coos county, NH at (603) 788-5598; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at cooscountynh.gov.
Where are people arrested in Coos County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sheriff's Department - Coos county, NH; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Coos County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Coos 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 Coos County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Sheriff's Department - Coos county, NH 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 Coos 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.