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 September 25, 2026.
New Castle, Pennsylvania, in Lawrence County, has about 21,000 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 Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas. 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: New Castle public records, Lawrence County arrest records, Pennsylvania arrest records and Pennsylvania inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in New Castle
The FBI lists New Castle with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as New Castle Police Department. It reported 1,018 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 Lawrence County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 0 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Lawrence County: the Bureau of Forestry in Lawrence County and the Office of Attorney General Region 3 in Lawrence County (state agency); the Lawrence County State Police (state police); County Detective in Lawrence County (other).
How Many Arrests New Castle 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.
- New Castle: 1,018 for 2025.
Across Lawrence County, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,187 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in New Castle Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in New Castle 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.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 140 people, down from about 170 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 307 beds, and it ran at 45 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at inmatelocator.cor.pa.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in New Castle
An arrest in New Castle can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at lawrencecountypa.gov/courts/central-courts, phone (724) 656-2290); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lawrencecountydistrictattorneysoffice.com, phone (855) 918-6476).
Statewide, UJS Web Portal is the Pennsylvania courts' free statewide docket search.
Pennsylvania is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: PATCH lets anyone request a criminal record check by name online, for $22 a search, through the Pennsylvania State Police. 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 New Castle
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Right-to-Know Law the agency must answer within 5 business days, with a 30-day extension, and it may charge copying at 25 cents a page.
- An arrest by the New Castle police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at newcastlepa.org/departments/police-records (page title: Police Records Department | City of New Castle), phone (724)510-0126, 230 N. Jefferson St. New Castle, PA 16101, Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (855) 918-6476, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas, through the court records page at lawrencecountypa.gov/courts/central-courts, phone (724) 656-2290.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lawrencecountypa.gov (page title: Lawrence County | Right to Know).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Lawrence County guide covers every agency in the county: Lawrence County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in New Castle each year?
New Castle reported 1,018 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in New Castle booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in New Castle?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Pennsylvania State Police: PATCH lets anyone request a criminal record check by name online, for $22. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Right-to-Know Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in New Castle?
From the agency that made the arrest: the New Castle police for its own arrests, the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Right-to-Know Law the answer is due within 5 business days, with a 30-day extension; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lawrencecountypa.gov.
Is this the official New Castle 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.