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.
Newport County, Rhode Island, has about 83,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are made by the state police or the town police, with six 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, Newport 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, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Newport County public records, Rhode Island arrest records, Rhode Island inmate search and Rhode Island criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Newport County
Rhode Island has no county sheriff with a patrol role. Arrests in Newport 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.
The FBI lists one city in Newport County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Newport, 24,482 residents: 665 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 Newport 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.
- Newport: 665 for 2025, 1,025 for 2024, 892 for 2023, 721 for 2022, 776 for 2021 and 661 for 2020.
- Portsmouth: 443 for 2025, 357 for 2024, 324 for 2023, 454 for 2022, 519 for 2021 and 399 for 2020.
- Middletown: 357 for 2025, 350 for 2024, 378 for 2023, 343 for 2022, 369 for 2021 and 313 for 2020.
- Tiverton: 346 for 2025, 426 for 2023, 514 for 2022, 524 for 2021, 327 for 2020 and 391 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Jamestown: 155 for 2025, 195 for 2024, 115 for 2023, 130 for 2022, 126 for 2021 and 86 for 2020.
- Little Compton: 30 for 2025, 28 for 2024, 36 for 2023, 60 for 2022, 53 for 2021 and 55 for 2020.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,996 arrests that year. The five of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,650 in 2025 against 1,955 in 2024, down 16 percent.
Through July 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 676 arrests, against 840 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Newport County Are Held
Rhode Island has no county jails. A person held after an arrest in Newport County is in the custody of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, which runs every jail and prison in the state, so one inmate lookup covers the whole state.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.ri.gov/family-visitors/incarceration-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Newport County
Whether someone was arrested in Newport 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, Newport County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.ri.gov/Pages/default.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 Newport 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 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.
- An arrest in Newport: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Rhode Island Superior Court, Newport County, through the court records page at courts.ri.gov/Pages/default.aspx.
- Your own statewide record: a request in person to the Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Cities in Newport County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Newport, the one city in Newport County. The FBI's list also carries the Jamestown Police Department, the Middletown Police Department, the Portsmouth Police Department and two more as city agencies in Newport County; Jamestown, Middletown, Portsmouth and two more are not among the cities above.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Newport County each year?
Newport reported 665 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,996 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Newport 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 Newport County booked?
In a facility of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, which runs every jail in Rhode Island.
Are arrest records public in Newport County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Rhode Island Superior Court, Newport 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 Newport 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 Newport 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.