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 9, 2026.
Rockingham County, Virginia, has about 88,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office, six city agencies and two campus, state or other 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 Commonwealth's Attorney files charges, a case in the Rockingham 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: Rockingham County public records, Virginia arrest records, Virginia inmate search and Virginia criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Rockingham County
The Rockingham County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Rockingham County. It reported 1,681 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside six of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Bridgewater, 6,826 residents: 17 arrests reported for 2025.
- Broadway, 4,384 residents: 36 arrests reported for 2025.
- Timberville, 3,104 residents: 9 arrests reported for 2025.
- Elkton, 3,073 residents: 26 arrests reported for 2025.
- Grottoes, 3,036 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2025.
- Dayton, 1,756 residents: 12 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 these agencies in Rockingham County: James Madison University (campus police); the Rockingham County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Rockingham 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.
- Rockingham County Sheriff's Office: 1,681 for 2025, 1,791 for 2024, 1,884 for 2023, 1,689 for 2021, 1,400 for 2020 and 1,297 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Broadway: 36 for 2025, 24 for 2024, 52 for 2023, 26 for 2022, 22 for 2021 and 23 for 2020.
- Elkton: 26 for 2025, 22 for 2024, 32 for 2023, 25 for 2022, 24 for 2021 and 11 for 2020.
- Bridgewater: 17 for 2025, 22 for 2024, 24 for 2023, 17 for 2022, 25 for 2021 and 39 for 2020.
- Dayton: 12 for 2025, 5 for 2023, 2 for 2021, 2 for 2020 and 12 for 2019; 2022 and 2024 are missing months.
- Timberville: 9 for 2025, 34 for 2023, 21 for 2022, 26 for 2021, 18 for 2020 and 15 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Grottoes: 1 for 2025, 1 for 2024, 1 for 2023, 1 for 2022, 3 for 2021 and 17 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,782 arrests that year. The five of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,761 in 2025 against 1,860 in 2024, down 5.3 percent.
Through July 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,024 arrests, against 1,051 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Rockingham County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Rockingham County 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 2025 the jail held about 300 people, up from about 280 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 208 beds, and it ran at 152 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Rockingham County
Whether someone was arrested in Rockingham County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: Online Case Information System, the Virginia courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the Commonwealth's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at rockinghamcountyva.gov/293/Commonwealths-Attorney, phone (540) 564-3350).
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 Rockingham 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 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 Rockingham County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Bridgewater, Broadway, Timberville, Elkton, Grottoes or Dayton: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by James Madison University or the Rockingham County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Commonwealth's Attorney, (540) 564-3350, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at rockinghamcountyva.nextrequest.com (page title: Rockingham County FOIANextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the State Police Central Criminal Records Exchange; a check on someone else needs their signed consent.
The other Rockingham County guides go further: police reports and property records.
Cities in Rockingham County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the seven cities in Rockingham County: Bridgewater, Broadway, Timberville, Elkton, Grottoes and Dayton. Mount Crawford has 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 Rockingham Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Rockingham County each year?
The Rockingham County Sheriff's Office reported 1,681 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,782 between them.
Where are people arrested in Rockingham County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Rockingham County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Rockingham 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 Rockingham County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Rockingham 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 rockinghamcountyva.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Rockingham 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.