Search Kent County 72 Hour Booking
Kent County 72 Hour Booking records hold the first stage of jail intake for arrests in Dover, Smyrna, Milford, and the rest of Kent County, Delaware. Each booking file logs the arrest date, the charge, the booking jail, and the bail status. Most folks search Kent County 72 Hour Booking data to find a jailed friend, check bail, or pull an old case. This page walks you through the main booking jail, the state portals, and the FOIA steps used to get a Kent County booking record.
Kent County 72 Hour Booking Overview
Kent County 72 Hour Booking Intake
The main site for a Kent County 72 Hour Booking is the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna. The jail sits at 1181 Paddock Road and the line is (302) 653-9261. Vaughn is the state's max security jail and also holds death row. It is the primary intake for all male arrestees from Kent County. Female arrestees go north to Baylor Women's Correctional Institution in New Castle, since Baylor is the only all-female state jail in Delaware.
The Morris Community Corrections Center in Dover runs Level IV work release for Kent County. The Central Violation of Probation Center is also based in Dover. Both sites are part of the state Delaware DOC system. To check live custody status for any Kent County 72 Hour Booking, use the Delaware DOC Inmate Locator. The tool runs on the VINE system and shows booking status 24 hours a day.
You can sign up for email or phone alerts through VINE. The alert fires when a Kent County 72 Hour Booking status shifts, when the person is moved, or when release is set. Visit the main Delaware DOC site for facility pages, victim services, and intake contact info.
Note: Vaughn is the main 72 Hour Booking site for male arrestees in Kent County, and it also houses the state's death row population.
Kent County Sheriff and Levy Court
Kent County runs under the Kent County Levy Court, which sits at 555 Bay Road in Dover. The Levy Court is the county's legislative body and handles most non-police county work. Delaware sheriffs do not run jails or book arrestees. So, there is no separate Kent County sheriff booking log. The right starting point for jail data is the Delaware DOC system, not a local sheriff.
For court business, the Kent County Courthouse sits at 38 The Green in Dover. The Court of Common Pleas works out of 150 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd South, Dover, DE 19901, at (302) 735-1900. Felony counts from a Kent County 72 Hour Booking move to Superior Court in the same courthouse complex.
DSP Troop 3 and Kent County Booking Data
DSP Troop 3 in Camden is the main state police post for Kent County. The troop sits at 3859 Bay Road, Camden, DE 19934, and the line is (302) 697-4454. Troop 3 handles patrol work across rural Kent County and books major arrests directly into the state DOC system. Press releases on Troop 3 posts list 72 Hour Booking data for felony arrests in the county, along with the court of arraignment.
Kent County has 16 police departments, including Dover PD, Smyrna PD, Milford PD, Camden PD, and Wyoming PD. Each one books arrestees at the nearest state jail or transfers them to Vaughn. The Delaware State Police main site links each troop page, press releases, and contact info.
The DSP also runs its own FOIA program. For state-level 72 Hour Booking files that come from a Troop 3 arrest, check the DSP FOIA page.
For court case data tied to a Kent County booking, use the Delaware CourtConnect portal.
CourtConnect pulls live docket data and can point you to the case tied to a booking event.
Kent County Court Records After Booking
Most Kent County 72 Hour Booking cases move to the Court of Common Pleas or Superior Court within days. Common Pleas hears misdemeanors and small civil claims. Superior Court hears felonies and civil claims over $75,000. Both courts sit in Dover. The Court of Common Pleas site is at courts.delaware.gov/commonpleas, and the Superior Court page is at courts.delaware.gov/superior.
To track a case online, use the Delaware CourtConnect portal. The portal covers the Supreme Court, Superior Court, Court of Chancery, Family Court, Court of Common Pleas, and Justice of the Peace Court. You can search by party name, case number, or attorney. The portal shows hearing dates, docket entries, and case status after a booking.
Under 11 Del. C. § 8513, the state keeps full arrest and conviction data. Review the rules at Title 11 Chapter 85, which covers the State Bureau of Identification and sharing of criminal history tied to each Kent County 72 Hour Booking.
FOIA Requests for Kent County 72 Hour Booking
The Delaware FOIA statute covers most agency records tied to a Kent County 72 Hour Booking. Public bodies have 15 business days to reply. The first 20 pages of copies are free, and extra pages cost $0.10 each. Oversized pages cost $2 to $3 per sheet. Staff time is billed in quarter-hour blocks at the lowest qualified pay rate. Legal review fees are not allowed.
To file a FOIA with Kent County government, contact Kelly Pitts, Public Information Officer, at (302) 744-2305 or PIO@kentcountyde.gov. You can also fax a request to 302-736-2279. Start the process at the Kent County FOIA page.
The portal lists the coordinator, fee chart, and sample forms that help speed up a county-level booking file request.
For Dover-specific files, the City of Dover runs its own FOIA office. The City Clerk sits at 15 Loockerman Plaza, Dover, DE 19903, and the line is (302) 736-7008. For state police files, use the DSP FOIA page cited above. The Attorney General's Open Government portal is the top-level path for any public body.
Note: Active case files may be held back under 29 Del. C. § 10002(l)(4), so full Kent County 72 Hour Booking paperwork is often withheld while the case runs.
Kent County Background Checks and SBI
For a certified state or FBI criminal history, the DSP State Bureau of Identification runs a Kent office. The site is at 600 South Bay Road, Suite 1, Dover, DE 19901, and the line is (302) 739-5871. Hours run Monday through Thursday, 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. You need an appointment, and walk-ins are not taken.
Fees are $52 for a state check and $65 for a state and FBI check. Bring a photo ID. Staff take prints on site. The full list of steps is on the DSP background check page. The SBI report pulls from DELJIS and will show any Kent County 72 Hour Booking on file.
DELJIS also runs an open tool to check wanted status. Go to the DELJIS homepage to look up an open capias. If the state flags a warrant, plan to clear it with an attorney. Walking into a Kent County police station with an open warrant often leads to a 72 Hour Booking right then and there.
Cities in Kent County
Kent County sits in central Delaware. Dover is the biggest city and the state capital. Milford straddles the Kent and Sussex line, and Harrington sits just south of Dover. Pick a city below for local police, booking jail, and FOIA data.