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 2, 2026.
Accomack County, Virginia, has about 33,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Accomack County Sheriff's Office, four city agencies and one state 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 Commonwealth's Attorney files charges, a case in the Accomack Circuit Court. 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: Accomack County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Accomack County
The Accomack County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Accomack County. It reported 384 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Accomack County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Chincoteague, 3,279 residents: 108 arrests reported for 2025.
- Onancock, 1,160 residents: 21 arrests reported for 2025.
- Parksley, 813 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Onley, 537 residents: 35 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Accomack County: the Accomack County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Accomack 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.
- Accomack County Sheriff's Office: 384 for 2025, 394 for 2024, 416 for 2023, 345 for 2022, 397 for 2021 and 366 for 2020.
- Chincoteague: 108 for 2025, 77 for 2024, 60 for 2023, 48 for 2022, 58 for 2021 and 75 for 2020.
- Onley: 35 for 2025, 44 for 2024, 37 for 2023, 15 for 2022, 30 for 2021 and 33 for 2020.
- Onancock: 21 for 2025, 17 for 2024, 34 for 2022, 14 for 2021, 18 for 2020 and 22 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Parksley: 0 for 2025, 2 for 2024 and 18 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 548 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 548 in 2025 against 534 in 2024, up 2.6 percent.
Through July 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 274 arrests, against 333 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Accomack County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Accomack 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.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 100 people, up from about 100 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 95 beds, and it ran at 107 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 Accomack County Sheriff's Office at accomack.gov/241/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Accomack County, VA), phone 757-787-1131, 23323 Wise Ct. Accomac, VA 23301, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Virginia Department of Corrections lists its inmates at vadoc.virginia.gov/family-and-friends.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Accomack County
For Accomack County the place to look is the case index of the Accomack Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at accomack.gov/244/Court-Records-Civil, phone (757) 787-5776).
Statewide, Online Case Information System is the Virginia courts' free statewide case search.
Virginia does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Virginia State Police 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 Accomack 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 Virginia Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 5 working days, and it may charge the actual cost of searching and copying.
- An arrest by the Accomack County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 757-787-1131.
- An arrest in Chincoteague, Onancock, Parksley or Onley: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Accomack County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Accomack Circuit Court, through the court records page at accomack.gov/244/Court-Records-Civil, phone (757) 787-5776.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at accomack.gov/262/FOIA-Request-Details (page title: FOIA Request Details | Accomack County, VA).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
Cities in Accomack County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the 14 cities in Accomack County: Chincoteague, Onancock, Parksley and Onley. Belle Haven, Accomac, Tangier, Melfa, Bloxom, Painter, Wachapreague, Hallwood, Saxis and Keller 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 Accomack Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Accomack County each year?
The Accomack County Sheriff's Office reported 384 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 548 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Accomack County?
Ask the Accomack County Sheriff's Office at 757-787-1131; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at accomack.gov/241/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Accomack County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Accomack County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Accomack County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Accomack Circuit Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Virginia State Police is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Accomack County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Accomack County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 5 working days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at accomack.gov/262/FOIA-Request-Details.
Is this the official Accomack 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.