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.
Strafford County, New Hampshire, has about 134,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Strafford County Sheriff's Office, 13 city agencies and two campus, state or other agencies. 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 Strafford 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: Strafford County public records, New Hampshire arrest records, New Hampshire inmate search and New Hampshire criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Strafford County
The Strafford County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Strafford County. It reported 66 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Strafford County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Dover, 33,909 residents: 746 arrests reported for 2025.
- Rochester, 33,598 residents: 1,121 arrests reported for 2025.
- Somersworth, 12,218 residents: 542 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 these agencies in Strafford County: the Strafford County State Police (state police); the University of New Hampshire (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Strafford 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.
- Rochester: 1,121 for 2025, 1,039 for 2024, 1,401 for 2022, 1,598 for 2021, 1,994 for 2020 and 2,019 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Dover: 746 for 2025, 895 for 2024, 618 for 2023, 600 for 2021, 753 for 2020 and 744 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Somersworth: 542 for 2025, 708 for 2024, 507 for 2023, 642 for 2022, 813 for 2021 and 792 for 2020.
- Durham: 303 for 2025, 246 for 2024, 269 for 2022, 270 for 2021 and 290 for 2019; 2020 and 2023 are missing months.
- Farmington: 189 for 2025, 204 for 2024, 188 for 2023, 209 for 2022, 222 for 2021 and 150 for 2020.
- Lee: 101 for 2025, 102 for 2024, 74 for 2023, 75 for 2022, 157 for 2021 and 161 for 2020.
- Barrington: 83 for 2025, 125 for 2024, 114 for 2023, 79 for 2022, 165 for 2021 and 129 for 2020.
- Milton: 72 for 2025, 64 for 2024, 93 for 2023, 97 for 2022, 81 for 2021 and 67 for 2020.
- Strafford County Sheriff's Office: 66 for 2025, 43 for 2024, 91 for 2023, 55 for 2022, 38 for 2021 and 30 for 2020.
- Rollinsford: 27 for 2025, 29 for 2024, 39 for 2023, 44 for 2022, 52 for 2021 and 55 for 2020.
- Strafford: 19 for 2025, 38 for 2024, 26 for 2023, 33 for 2022, 27 for 2021 and 19 for 2020.
- New Durham: 7 for 2025, 15 for 2024, 30 for 2023, 50 for 2022, 62 for 2021 and 54 for 2020.
Together, the 14 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,280 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,280 in 2025 against 3,516 in 2024, down 6.7 percent.
Through June 2026, the 11 agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,323 arrests, against 1,360 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Strafford County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Strafford 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 310 people, down from about 440 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 399 beds, and it ran at 78 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 Strafford County Sheriff's Office at co.strafford.nh.us/jail-home-page (page title: Jail Home Page), phone (603) 742-3310, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Strafford County
An arrest in Strafford County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Strafford 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/strafford-superior-court, phone 855-212-1234); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at co.strafford.nh.us/department/attorney-s-office, phone (603) 749-2808).
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 Strafford 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 Strafford County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (603) 742-3310.
- An arrest in Dover, Rochester or Somersworth: 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 Strafford County State Police or the University of New Hampshire: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney, (603) 749-2808, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Strafford 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 Strafford County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Strafford County: Dover, Rochester and Somersworth. The FBI's list also carries the Barrington Police Department, the Durham Police Department, the Farmington Police Department and seven more as city agencies in Strafford County; Barrington, Durham, Farmington 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 Strafford County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Strafford County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Dover (33,909)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Strafford County each year?
Rochester reported 1,121 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 14 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,280 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Strafford County?
Ask the Strafford County Sheriff's Office at (603) 742-3310; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.strafford.nh.us/jail-home-page.
Where are people arrested in Strafford County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Strafford County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Strafford County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Strafford 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 Strafford County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Strafford 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 Strafford 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.