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 between September 24, 2026 and October 1, 2026.
Bennington County, Vermont, has about 37,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Bennington County Sheriff's Office, three 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 a facility of the Vermont Department of Corrections, and, if the State's Attorney files charges, a case in the Vermont Superior Court, Bennington Unit. 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: Bennington County public records, Vermont arrest records, Vermont inmate search and Vermont criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Bennington County
The Bennington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Bennington County. It reported 26 arrests for 2025. In Vermont the police for a given address is the town police, the county sheriff or the Vermont State Police, whichever took the call.
The FBI lists one city in Bennington County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Manchester, 767 residents: 99 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 Bennington County: the Shaftsbury State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Bennington 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.
- Bennington: 571 for 2025, 806 for 2024, 643 for 2023, 646 for 2022, 940 for 2021 and 878 for 2020.
- Manchester: 99 for 2025, 140 for 2024, 144 for 2023, 130 for 2022, 81 for 2021 and 99 for 2020.
- Winhall: 26 for 2025, 46 for 2024, 50 for 2023, 17 for 2021, 17 for 2020 and 45 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Bennington County Sheriff's Office: 26 for 2025, 43 for 2024, 29 for 2023, 27 for 2021, 49 for 2020 and 94 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 722 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 722 in 2025 against 1,035 in 2024, down 30 percent.
Through September 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 122 arrests, against 114 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bennington County Are Held
In Vermont the jails belong to the state. Anyone held after an arrest in Bennington County is booked into a facility of the Vermont Department of Corrections, and the inmate lookup is the state's.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Vermont Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at vermont.gov/service/offender-locator.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Bennington County
Whether someone was arrested in Bennington County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the Vermont Department of Corrections's inmate locator, for anyone held; the case index of the Vermont Superior Court, Bennington Unit, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at vtcourts.gov/court-locations/bennington-civil-division, phone 800-540-9990); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at vtbar.org/classified_ads/deputy-states-attorney-bennington-county-b..., phone 802-223-2020).
Statewide, Vermont Judiciary Public Portal is the courts' free statewide case search.
Vermont is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: Vermont criminal conviction records are public and can be ordered online on anyone by name, through the Vermont Crime Information Center. 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 Bennington 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 Vermont Public Records Act the agency must answer within 3 business days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying, and staff time after the first 30 minutes.
- An arrest by the Bennington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Manchester: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Shaftsbury State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 802-223-2020, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Vermont Superior Court, Bennington Unit, through the court records page at vtcourts.gov, phone 800-540-9990.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Bennington County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Bennington County: Manchester. North Bennington and Old Bennington have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Winhall Police Department and the Bennington Police Department as city agencies in Bennington County; Winhall and Bennington are not among the cities above.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bennington County each year?
Bennington reported 571 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 722 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bennington County?
Through the Vermont Department of Corrections's inmate locator at vermont.gov/service/offender-locator; the department holds everyone in custody in Vermont.
Where are people arrested in Bennington County booked?
In a facility of the Vermont Department of Corrections, which runs every jail in Vermont.
Are arrest records public in Bennington County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Vermont Crime Information Center: Vermont criminal conviction records are public and can be ordered online on anyone by name. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Vermont Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Bennington County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bennington County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Vermont Public Records Act the answer is due within 3 business days.
Is this the official Bennington 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.