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 on September 24, 2026.
Chaves County, New Mexico, has about 64,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Chaves County Sheriff's Office, four city agencies and one campus 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the District Court for Chaves County. 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: Chaves County public records, New Mexico arrest records, New Mexico inmate search and New Mexico criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Chaves County
The Chaves County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Chaves County. It reported 382 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside four of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Roswell, 47,176 residents: 3,241 arrests reported for 2024.
- Dexter, 1,055 residents: 20 arrests reported for 2022.
- Hagerman, 961 residents: 2 arrests reported for 2022.
- Lake Arthur, 375 residents.
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 Chaves County: New Mexico Military Institute (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Chaves 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.
- Roswell: 3,241 for 2024, 3,484 for 2023, 3,340 for 2022, 2,560 for 2021 and 4,972 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Chaves County Sheriff's Office: 382 for 2025, 389 for 2024, 315 for 2023, 295 for 2022 and 633 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Dexter: 20 for 2022, 8 for 2020 and 20 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Hagerman: 2 for 2022.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2022 on file reported 3,657 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2022 and 2021 complete reported 3,340 in 2022 against 2,560 in 2021, up 30 percent.
Lake Arthur reported only part of 2022 (7 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Chaves County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Chaves County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 220 people, down from about 280 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 335 beds, and it ran at 67 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the New Mexico Corrections Department lists its inmates at cd.nm.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Chaves County
For Chaves County the place to look is the case index of the District Court for Chaves County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at chavescounty.gov/your-county/departments/clerk-s-office/public-docu..., phone 575-624-6600).
Statewide, New Mexico Courts Case Lookup is the New Mexico Judiciary's free statewide case search.
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's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Chaves 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 Inspection of Public Records Act the agency must answer within 15 calendar days, after acknowledging the request within 3 business days, and it may charge copying at no more than $1 a page.
- An arrest by the Chaves County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Roswell, Dexter, Hagerman or Lake Arthur: 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 New Mexico Military Institute: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Chaves County, through the court records page at chavescounty.gov, phone 575-624-6600.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at chavescounty.gov (page title: Request to Inspect Public Records | Chaves County, NM).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Department of Public Safety.
Cities in Chaves County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the four cities in Chaves County: Roswell, Dexter, Hagerman and Lake Arthur.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the District Court for Chaves County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Chaves County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Roswell (47,176)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Chaves County each year?
Roswell reported 3,241 arrests to the FBI for 2024. For 2022, the latest year most of the agencies in Chaves County sent in full, the four with every month on file reported 3,657 between them.
Where are people arrested in Chaves County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Chaves County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Chaves County?
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.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Chaves County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Chaves County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Inspection of Public Records Act the answer is due within 15 calendar days, after acknowledging the request within 3 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at chavescounty.gov.
Is this the official Chaves 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.