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 27, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, has about 430,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, 26 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 Hillsborough 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: Hillsborough County public records, New Hampshire arrest records, New Hampshire inmate search and New Hampshire criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hillsborough County
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hillsborough County. It reported 1,196 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists two cities in Hillsborough County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Manchester, 116,386 residents: 2,979 arrests reported for 2025.
- Nashua, 91,851 residents: 2,754 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 Hillsborough County: the Hillsborough County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Hillsborough 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.
- 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.
- Nashua: 2,754 for 2025, 2,673 for 2024, 2,278 for 2022, 2,563 for 2021, 2,280 for 2020 and 3,373 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Hudson: 891 for 2025, 890 for 2024, 678 for 2023, 571 for 2022, 625 for 2021 and 651 for 2020.
- Bedford: 366 for 2025, 323 for 2024, 405 for 2022, 373 for 2021, 355 for 2020 and 454 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Merrimack: 334 for 2025, 294 for 2024, 471 for 2021, 565 for 2020 and 643 for 2019; 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Hillsborough: 321 for 2025, 308 for 2024, 380 for 2023, 280 for 2022, 287 for 2021 and 277 for 2020.
- Goffstown: 260 for 2025, 261 for 2024, 280 for 2023, 332 for 2022, 354 for 2021 and 222 for 2020.
- Amherst: 206 for 2025, 203 for 2024, 162 for 2023, 182 for 2022, 228 for 2021 and 156 for 2020.
- Pelham: 175 for 2025, 258 for 2024, 213 for 2023, 211 for 2022, 218 for 2021 and 171 for 2020.
- Milford: 157 for 2025, 230 for 2024, 158 for 2023, 230 for 2022, 211 for 2021 and 207 for 2020.
- New Boston: 125 for 2025, 108 for 2024, 123 for 2023, 73 for 2022, 115 for 2021 and 117 for 2020.
- Hollis: 83 for 2025, 85 for 2024, 106 for 2023, 127 for 2022, 104 for 2021 and 88 for 2020.
Together, the 25 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 9,065 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 9,065 in 2025 against 9,102 in 2024, down 0.4 percent.
Through July 2026, the 20 agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,458 arrests, against 3,585 in the same months of 2025.
Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and Peterborough reported only part of 2025 (11 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hillsborough County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hillsborough 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 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 Hillsborough County
An arrest in Hillsborough County 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 Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (603) 627-5610.
- An arrest in Manchester or Nashua: 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 Hillsborough 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 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.
Cities in Hillsborough County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Hillsborough County: Manchester and Nashua. The FBI's list also carries the Amherst Police Department, the Antrim Police Department, the Bedford Police Department and 21 more as city agencies in Hillsborough County; Amherst, Antrim, Bedford and 21 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 Hillsborough County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Hillsborough County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Manchester (116,386)
- Nashua (91,851)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hillsborough County each year?
Manchester reported 2,979 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 25 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 9,065 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hillsborough County?
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 Hillsborough County 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 Hillsborough County?
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 Hillsborough County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough 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.