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 4, 2026.
Washington County, Vermont, has about 60,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Washington County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and eight 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 a facility of the Vermont Department of Corrections, and, if the State's Attorney files charges, a case in the Vermont Superior Court, Washington 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: Washington County public records, Vermont arrest records, Vermont inmate search and Vermont criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Washington County
The Washington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Washington County. It reported 22 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 two cities in Washington County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Barre, 8,304 residents: 443 arrests reported for 2025.
- Montpelier, 7,915 residents: 290 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 Washington County: Attorney General, Secretary of State, Investigations Unit, Fish and Wildlife Department, Law Enforcement Division, the Department of Liquor Control at Division of Enforcement and Licensing and two more (state agency); Vermont State Police Headquarters Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the Berlin State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Washington 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.
- Berlin: 447 for 2025, 363 for 2024, 337 for 2023, 193 for 2022, 193 for 2021 and 177 for 2020.
- Barre: 443 for 2025, 389 for 2024, 403 for 2023, 496 for 2022, 289 for 2021 and 434 for 2020.
- Montpelier: 290 for 2025, 236 for 2024, 207 for 2023, 231 for 2022, 161 for 2021 and 160 for 2020.
- Barre Town: 118 for 2025, 135 for 2024, 140 for 2023, 118 for 2022, 91 for 2021 and 76 for 2020.
- Washington County Sheriff's Office: 22 for 2025, 4 for 2024, 12 for 2023, 27 for 2020 and 68 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Northfield: 9 for 2025, 12 for 2024, 49 for 2023, 57 for 2022, 42 for 2021 and 59 for 2020.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,329 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,329 in 2025 against 1,139 in 2024, up 17 percent.
Through August 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 797 arrests, against 870 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Washington County Are Held
Vermont has no county jails. A person held after an arrest in Washington County is in the custody of the Vermont 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 Vermont Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at vermont.gov/service/offender-locator.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Washington County
Whether someone was arrested in Washington County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the Vermont Department of Corrections's inmate locator, for anyone held; the case index of the Vermont Superior Court, Washington Unit, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at vermont.gov/service/access-civil-court-cases-vtcourtsonline-0).
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 Washington 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (802) 223-3001.
- An arrest in Barre or Montpelier: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Attorney General, Secretary of State, Investigations Unit or Fish and Wildlife Department, Law Enforcement Division: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Vermont Superior Court, Washington Unit, through the court records page at vermont.gov.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Washington County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Washington County: Barre and Montpelier. Marshfield has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Berlin Police Department, the Barre Town Police Department and the Northfield Police Department as city agencies in Washington County; Berlin, Barre Town and Northfield are not among the cities above.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Washington County each year?
Berlin reported 447 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,329 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Washington 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 Washington County booked?
In a facility of the Vermont Department of Corrections, which runs every jail in Vermont.
Are arrest records public in Washington 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 Washington County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Washington 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 Washington 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.