Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Roswell, New Mexico, in Chaves County, has about 47,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In New Mexico the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of the District Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Roswell is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Roswell public records, Chaves County criminal records, Roswell arrest records, Roswell warrants, Roswell court records, Roswell police reports, New Mexico arrest records and New Mexico inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the District Court for Chaves County
In New Mexico the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Roswell are heard by the District Court for Chaves County, which hears felonies, civil cases, divorces, probate and juvenile matters; the Magistrate Court takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and civil cases up to $10,000; Bernalillo County has the Metropolitan Court instead, and the file of each case is kept by the Clerk of the District Court.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at chavescounty.gov/your-county/departments/clerk-s-office/public-docu... (page title: Public Document Search | Chaves County, NM), phone 575-624-6600, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Statewide, New Mexico Courts Case Lookup is the New Mexico Judiciary's free statewide case search.
The New Mexico Criminal History and Your Own Copy
New Mexico does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court file in the District Court for Chaves County is the public record.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at dps.nm.gov/law-enforcement-records-bureau.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Roswell
The Chaves County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Roswell (filed by the FBI as Roswell Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Roswell: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Chaves County: New Mexico Military Institute (campus police); it keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the four agencies in Chaves County with all twelve months of 2022 on file reported 3,657 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Roswell arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Roswell in 2022
The agency that reports for Roswell had 425 violent and 1,456 property crimes reported for 2022; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The Sex Offender Registry for Roswell
Registered sex offenders living in Roswell are listed on the New Mexico Sex Offender Registry, run by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety at offenderwatch.com/network/new-mexico. The registry is public and can be searched online; the county sheriff registers them.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Chaves County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Inspection of Public Records Act a county office must answer a request within 15 calendar days, after acknowledging the request within 3 business days, and it may charge copying at no more than $1 a page. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at chavescounty.gov/your-county/departments/human-resources-department... (page title: Request to Inspect Public Records | Chaves County, NM).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Roswell?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Chaves County are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Inspection of Public Records Act.
Can I search Roswell criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at chavescounty.gov (page title: Public Document Search | Chaves County, NM). Statewide, New Mexico Courts Case Lookup is the New Mexico Judiciary's free statewide case search.
How do I get my own New Mexico criminal history?
Through a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Is this the official Roswell 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.