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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 24, 2026.
Bristol County, Rhode Island, has about 50,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are made by the state police or the town police, with three city agencies reporting to the FBI. An arrest leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at a facility of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, and, if the Attorney General files charges, a case in the Rhode Island Superior Court, Bristol 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 and common questions.
Related guides: Bristol County public records, Rhode Island arrest records, Rhode Island inmate search and Rhode Island criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Bristol County
Rhode Island has no county sheriff with a patrol role. Arrests in Bristol County are made by the state police or the town police, and in Rhode Island the police for a given address is the town police in a town with its own department and the state police elsewhere.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Bristol County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Bristol: 187 for 2025, 207 for 2024, 168 for 2023, 214 for 2022, 158 for 2021 and 172 for 2020.
- Barrington: 94 for 2025, 116 for 2024, 138 for 2023, 115 for 2022, 138 for 2021 and 133 for 2020.
- Warren: 249 for 2024, 288 for 2023, 286 for 2022, 282 for 2021, 221 for 2020 and 379 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 281 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 281 in 2025 against 323 in 2024, down 13 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 163 arrests, against 191 in the same months of 2025.
Warren reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bristol County Are Held
In Rhode Island the jails belong to the state. Anyone held after an arrest in Bristol County is booked into a facility of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, and the inmate lookup is the state's.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Rhode Island Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.ri.gov/family-visitors/incarceration-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Bristol County
Whether someone was arrested in Bristol County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the Rhode Island Department of Corrections's inmate locator, for anyone held; the case index of the Rhode Island Superior Court, Bristol County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.ri.gov/Public-Resources/Pages/case-information.aspx).
Statewide, Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal is the courts' free statewide case search.
Rhode Island does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Rhode Island Attorney General Bureau of Criminal Identification 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 Bristol 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 Access to Public Records Act the agency must answer within 10 business days, and it may charge copying at 15 cents a page and search time after the first hour.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Rhode Island Superior Court, Bristol County, through the court records page at courts.ri.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a request in person to the Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bristol County each year?
Bristol reported 187 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 281 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bristol County?
Through the Rhode Island Department of Corrections's inmate locator at doc.ri.gov; the department holds everyone in custody in Rhode Island.
Where are people arrested in Bristol County booked?
In a facility of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, which runs every jail in Rhode Island.
Are arrest records public in Bristol County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Rhode Island Superior Court, Bristol County are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Rhode Island Attorney General Bureau of Criminal Identification is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Access to Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Bristol County?
From the agency that made the arrest: in Rhode Island, the state police or the town police. Under the Access to Public Records Act the answer is due within 10 business days.
Is this the official Bristol 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.