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 23, 2026.
Otsego County, New York, has about 61,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Otsego County Sheriff's Office, two 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 Otsego County Supreme and County Courts. 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: Otsego County public records, New York arrest records, New York inmate search and New York criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Otsego County
The Otsego County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Otsego County. It reported 202 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Otsego County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Oneonta, 15,679 residents: 117 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cooperstown, 1,844 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2020.
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 Otsego County: the Oneonta State University of New York Police (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Otsego 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.
- Otsego County Sheriff's Office: 202 for 2025, 197 for 2024, 149 for 2023, 84 for 2022 and 153 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Oneonta: 117 for 2025, 59 for 2023, 68 for 2022, 138 for 2020 and 210 for 2019; 2021 and 2024 are missing months.
- Cooperstown: 3 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 319 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 202 in 2025 against 197 in 2024, up 2.5 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 152 arrests, against 196 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Otsego County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Otsego 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 30 people on an average day, down from about 31 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 100 beds, and it ran at 31 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 Otsego County Sheriff's Office at otsegocountyny.gov/departments/sheriff_s_office/index.php (page title: Otsego County, NY), phone 607-547-4271, 172 County Highway 33W Cooperstown, NY 13326, Monday to Friday 9am - 4:30pm., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Otsego County
Whether someone was arrested in Otsego County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Otsego County Supreme and County Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at otsegocountyny.gov/departments/county_clerk/nys_unified_court.php); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at otsegocountyny.gov/departments/district_attorney/index.php, phone 607.547.4249).
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 Otsego 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 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 Otsego County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 607-547-4271.
- An arrest in Oneonta or Cooperstown: 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 Oneonta State University of New York Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 607.547.4249, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Otsego County Supreme and County Courts, through the court records page at otsegocountyny.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Cities in Otsego County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the ten cities in Otsego County: Oneonta and Cooperstown. Richfield Springs, Unadilla, Otego, Morris, Cherry Valley, Milford, Gilbertsville and Laurens have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Otsego County Supreme and County Courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Otsego County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Oneonta (15,679)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Otsego County each year?
The Otsego County Sheriff's Office reported 202 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 319 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Otsego County?
Ask the Otsego County Sheriff's Office at 607-547-4271; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at otsegocountyny.gov.
Where are people arrested in Otsego County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Otsego County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Otsego County?
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 Otsego County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Otsego County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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.
Is this the official Otsego 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.