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 between September 23, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Watertown, New York, in Jefferson County, has about 24,000 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Jefferson County Supreme and County Courts. 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: Watertown public records, Jefferson County arrest records, New York arrest records and New York inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Watertown
The FBI lists Watertown with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Watertown Police Department. It reported 964 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 Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 665 arrests for 2024.
How Many Arrests Watertown Reports
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.
- Watertown: 964 for 2025, 1,200 for 2024, 1,033 for 2023, 1,035 for 2022, 920 for 2021 and 882 for 2020.
Watertown's 964 arrests in 2025 were down 20 percent from 1,200 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Watertown reported 552 arrests, against 598 in the same months of 2025.
Across Jefferson County, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,004 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Watertown Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Watertown 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 160 people on an average day, up from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 124 beds, and it ran at 106 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 Jefferson County Sheriff's Office at jeffersoncountyny.gov/corrections-contact-numbers (page title: Welcome to Jefferson County, New York | Corrections Contact Information), phone (315) 786-2688, 175 Arsenal Street Watertown, NY 13601, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, whose inmate locator is at nysdoccslookup.doccs.ny.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Watertown
Whether someone was arrested in Watertown, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Jefferson County Supreme and County Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at jeffersoncountyny.gov/departments/CountyClerk/Court/LandRecords, phone 315-785-3312); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at jeffersoncountyny.gov/departments/DistrictAttorney, phone (315)785-3053).
Statewide, eCourts is the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily).
New York is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Office of Court Administration sells a statewide search of criminal court records by name and date of birth, for $95 a search, through the New York State Office of Court Administration. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Watertown
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Freedom of Information Law the agency must answer within 5 business days, at least with an acknowledgment and a date for the full answer, and it may charge copying at 25 cents a page.
- An arrest by the Watertown police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at watertown-ny.gov/departments/PoliceDepartment/PoliceFAQ (page title: City of Watertown, New York | Police FAQ), phone 315-782-2233, 911 Location 751 Waterman Drive Watertown, NY 13601, Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 3:45 PM., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (315) 786-2688.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (315)785-3053, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Jefferson County Supreme and County Courts, through the court records page at jeffersoncountyny.gov, phone 315-785-3312.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at jeffersoncountyny.gov/searchcopyrequests (page title: Welcome to Jefferson County, New York | Search & Copy Requests).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
The Jefferson County guide covers every agency in the county: Jefferson County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Watertown each year?
Watertown reported 964 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Watertown?
Ask the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office at (315) 786-2688; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at jeffersoncountyny.gov.
Where are people arrested in Watertown booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Watertown?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the New York State Office of Court Administration: the Office of Court Administration sells a statewide search of criminal court records by name and date of birth, for $95. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Freedom of Information Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Watertown?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Watertown police for its own arrests, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Freedom of Information Law the answer is due within 5 business days, at least with an acknowledgment and a date for the full answer; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at jeffersoncountyny.gov/searchcopyrequests.
Is this the official Watertown 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.