Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 on September 23, 2026.
Dover, New Jersey, in Morris County, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city 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 Prosecutor files charges, a case in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Morris County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Dover public records, Morris County arrest records, New Jersey arrest records and New Jersey inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Dover
The FBI lists Dover with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Dover Police Department. It reported 225 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Morris County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 223 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Morris County: Prosecutor in Morris County and the Morris County Park Police (other); the Morris County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Dover Reports
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.
- Dover: 225 for 2025, 283 for 2024, 227 for 2023, 135 for 2022, 313 for 2020 and 551 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
Dover's 225 arrests in 2025 were down 20 percent from 283 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Dover reported 112 arrests, against 175 in the same months of 2025.
Across Morris County, the 36 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,472 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dover Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dover 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 240 people, up from about 190 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 524 beds, and it ran at 45 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 Morris County Sheriff's Office at morriscountynj.gov/Departments/Jail (page title: Jail | Morris County, NJ), phone 973-631-5412, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the New Jersey Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at www20.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/inmatefinder?i=I.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Dover
Whether someone was arrested in Dover, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Morris County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at morriscountynj.gov/Government/Court-System, phone 862-397-5700); the County Prosecutor, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at morriscountynj.gov/Departments/Prosecutor, phone (973) 285-6200).
Statewide, New Jersey Courts Public Access is the Judiciary's free online case search for civil and criminal cases.
New Jersey does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the New Jersey State Police 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 Dover
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 Open Public Records Act the agency must answer within 7 business days, and it may charge copying at 5 cents a page for letter size.
- An arrest by the agency that reports for Dover: its own records unit.
- An arrest by the Morris County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 973-631-5412.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Prosecutor, (973) 285-6200, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of New Jersey, Morris County, through the court records page at morriscountynj.gov/Government/Court-System, phone 862-397-5700.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at morriscountynj.gov (page title: Open Public Records Request (OPRA) | Morris County, NJ).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Police.
The Morris County guide covers every agency in the county: Morris County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dover each year?
Dover reported 225 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dover?
Ask the Morris County Sheriff's Office at 973-631-5412; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at morriscountynj.gov/Departments/Jail.
Where are people arrested in Dover booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Morris County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dover?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Morris County are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the New Jersey State Police is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Open Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Dover?
From the agency that made the arrest: the agency that reports for Dover for its own arrests, the Morris County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Open Public Records Act the answer is due within 7 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at morriscountynj.gov.
Is this the official Dover website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.