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.
Rockingham County, New Hampshire, has about 322,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office, 37 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 Rockingham 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: Rockingham County public records, New Hampshire arrest records, New Hampshire inmate search and New Hampshire criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Rockingham County
The Rockingham County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Rockingham County. It reported 374 arrests for 2025.
One city in Rockingham County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Portsmouth, 22,938 residents: 578 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 Rockingham County: the Rockingham County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Rockingham 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.
- Salem: 996 for 2025, 1,249 for 2024, 1,075 for 2023, 879 for 2022, 875 for 2021 and 808 for 2020.
- Derry: 732 for 2025, 807 for 2024, 874 for 2023, 841 for 2022, 908 for 2021 and 747 for 2020.
- Hampton: 609 for 2025, 616 for 2024, 769 for 2023, 923 for 2022, 1,019 for 2021 and 940 for 2020.
- Portsmouth: 578 for 2025, 631 for 2024, 540 for 2023, 576 for 2022, 606 for 2021 and 485 for 2020.
- Seabrook: 442 for 2025, 413 for 2024, 440 for 2023, 418 for 2022, 479 for 2021 and 338 for 2020.
- Londonderry: 430 for 2025, 436 for 2024, 466 for 2023, 396 for 2022, 272 for 2021 and 363 for 2020.
- Rockingham County Sheriff's Office: 374 for 2025, 527 for 2024, 516 for 2023, 446 for 2022, 613 for 2021 and 789 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Exeter: 209 for 2025, 152 for 2024, 154 for 2023, 108 for 2022, 103 for 2021 and 147 for 2020.
- Raymond: 208 for 2025, 211 for 2024, 179 for 2023, 199 for 2022, 251 for 2021 and 268 for 2020.
- Plaistow: 145 for 2025, 134 for 2024, 135 for 2023, 67 for 2022, 72 for 2021 and 112 for 2020.
- Windham: 112 for 2025, 124 for 2024, 137 for 2023, 132 for 2022, 133 for 2021 and 122 for 2020.
- Kingston: 97 for 2025, 130 for 2024, 120 for 2023, 101 for 2022, 110 for 2021 and 80 for 2020.
Together, the 35 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,812 arrests that year. The 33 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,682 in 2025 against 6,387 in 2024, down 11 percent.
Through June 2026, the 28 agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,382 arrests, against 2,601 in the same months of 2025.
Chester, Epping and Newmarket reported only part of 2025 (11 months, 11 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Rockingham County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Rockingham 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 2019 the jail held about 140 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 402 beds, and it ran at 34 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 Rockingham County Sheriff's Office at rockso.org (page title: Rockingham County Sheriff's Office), 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 Rockingham County
For Rockingham County the place to look is the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at rockinghamcountyattorney.org, phone 603-642-4249).
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 Rockingham 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 Rockingham County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Portsmouth: 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 Rockingham 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, 603-642-4249, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a notarized request to the Criminal Records Unit.
Cities in Rockingham County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Portsmouth, the one city in Rockingham County. The FBI's list also carries the Atkinson Police Department, the Auburn Police Department, the Brentwood Police Department and 33 more as city agencies in Rockingham County; Atkinson, Auburn, Brentwood and 33 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 Rockingham County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Rockingham County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Portsmouth (22,938)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Rockingham County each year?
Salem reported 996 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 35 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,812 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Rockingham County?
Ask the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at rockso.org.
Where are people arrested in Rockingham County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Rockingham County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Rockingham 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 Rockingham County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Rockingham 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 Rockingham 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.