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 between September 23, 2026 and October 4, 2026.
Putnam County, New York, has about 98,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and four city agencies. 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 Putnam 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: Putnam County public records, New York arrest records, New York inmate search and New York criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Putnam County
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Putnam County. It reported 446 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Putnam County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Brewster, 2,504 residents: 5 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cold Spring, 1,995 residents: 2 arrests reported for 2025.
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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Putnam 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.
- Putnam County Sheriff's Office: 446 for 2025, 380 for 2024, 510 for 2023 and 868 for 2019; 2020, 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Carmel Town: 219 for 2025, 226 for 2024, 196 for 2023, 173 for 2022, 183 for 2021 and 246 for 2020.
- Brewster: 5 for 2025, 3 for 2024, 11 for 2023, 5 for 2022, 7 for 2020 and 12 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Cold Spring: 2 for 2025, 95 for 2023, 0 for 2022, 6 for 2020 and 47 for 2019; 2021 and 2024 are missing months.
- Kent Town: 105 for 2023, 133 for 2020 and 262 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 672 arrests that year. The three of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 670 in 2025 against 609 in 2024, up 10 percent.
Kent Town reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Putnam County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Putnam 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 38 people on an average day, down from about 61 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 128 beds, and it ran at 48 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 Putnam County Sheriff's Office at putnamsheriff.com/jail-visitation-info (page title: Jail Visitation Info | Putnam County Sheriff's Office), Monday Thursday Friday 2:00 - 4:30 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Putnam County
An arrest in Putnam County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Putnam County Supreme and County Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at putnamcountyny.gov/county-clerk, phone 845-808-1142); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at putnamcountyny.gov/district-attorneys-office, phone 845-808-1050).
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 Putnam County
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 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 Putnam County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Brewster or Cold Spring: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 845-808-1050, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Putnam County Supreme and County Courts, through the court records page at putnamcountyny.gov/county-clerk, phone 845-808-1142.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Cities in Putnam County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Putnam County: Brewster and Cold Spring. Nelsonville has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Carmel Town Police Department and the Kent Town Police Department as city agencies in Putnam County; Carmel Town and Kent Town are not among the cities above.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Putnam County Supreme and County Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Putnam County each year?
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office reported 446 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 672 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Putnam County?
Ask the Putnam County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at putnamsheriff.com/jail-visitation-info.
Where are people arrested in Putnam County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Putnam 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 Putnam County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Putnam 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 Putnam 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.