Milford Police Records Search

Milford police records are kept by the Milford Police Department and the City of Milford records office. The city runs an online form for any public records request. You can ask for an incident report, a crash report, or an arrest log. The request goes to the FOIA coordinator at City Hall. Milford is the one city in the state that sits in two counties. It spans both Kent and Sussex. That shapes where some files end up. This page walks you through how to search Milford police records step by step.

Milford Police Department Records

The Milford Police Department keeps all local police records for events inside city limits. That covers arrests, incidents, and crashes that took place in town. The department serves both the Kent and Sussex parts of the city. So a call in north Milford and a call in south Milford both end up in the same records room. City Hall sits at 201 South Walnut Street. The police records office is part of the city's larger records unit.

To file a records request, use the online form the city runs through its website. The form asks for your first and last name, your mailing address, city, state, and zip. It also asks for your phone and email. You then fill in the records requested field. Staff ask you to be as specific as you can. List dates, names, case numbers, or the type of file you want. Under 29 Del. C. § 10003, the city has 15 business days to reply.

The form page also asks you to pick a cost threshold. The choices are $5, $10, $50, or $100. Fees follow the state schedule. The first 20 pages are free. Each page after that is ten cents. If the staff time or copy cost will top your cap, the coordinator calls you first. No work starts until you agree to the higher cost.

Fingerprint services are at the Milford Police Department too. You can get prints for a background check, a professional license, or other uses. Call ahead to check the hours. A certified state criminal history still has to come from the State Bureau of Identification, not from local police.

City of Milford FOIA Process

The Milford FOIA coordinator works out of City Hall. The coordinator logs each new request and routes it to the right office. For a police file, the request goes to the Milford Police Department records clerk. For a council record, it goes to the city clerk. The city follows Delaware Code Title 29 Chapter 100. That is the full state FOIA law. It sets the 15 business day reply clock and the copy fee rates.

The Milford City Council has 7 elected members. Each one serves a three-year term. The council meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 7:00 PM. Meetings are held at Milford City Hall, 201 South Walnut Street. The full FY 2023 operating budget is about $12.5 million. That pays for police, public works, and other city services. Council records, ordinances, and meeting minutes are all open under FOIA.

You can see how the city is set up on the main Milford government page. It lists each department, plus the police and council pages.

From this page, you can jump to the police contact box, the council agenda, or the forms center. The forms center is where the public records request form lives.

Milford Police Records Across Two Counties

Milford is the rare Delaware city that sits in two counties. The north part of town is in Kent County. The south part is in Sussex County. For Milford police records, the city department handles both halves. But when a case moves to court or to the jail, the county line starts to matter. A case tied to the Kent side may go to the Kent County Courthouse at 38 The Green in Dover. A case tied to the Sussex side may go to the Sussex County Court of Common Pleas at 1 The Circle, Suite 1, Georgetown, DE 19947, phone (302) 858-5730.

The main jail for Milford arrests is Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown. The Delaware Department of Correction runs it. You can use the doc.delaware.gov site to look up a current inmate by name. Bond and bail move through the court that took the case. The VINELink tool sends out alerts when an inmate's status shifts.

Kent County files go through the Kent County Levy Court at 555 Bay Road, Dover. You can send a FOIA request by email to PIO@kentcountyde.gov. See the Kent County FOIA page for the full process. Sussex County files go through the Sussex County FOIA coordinator. The Sussex County Sheriff's Office is at The Circle, PO Box 589, Georgetown, DE 19947, phone (302) 855-7830. See sussexcountyde.gov for forms and meeting info.

Delaware State Police Records for Milford

Delaware State Police may take calls on roads near Milford too. Troop 3 covers much of Kent County. Troop 4 and Troop 7 cover parts of Sussex. A crash on US 113 or Route 1 near Milford may be a DSP case, not a city case. For a DSP incident report, go to the DSP FOIA page. The DSP FOIA coordinator is Angie von Bank. The email is angie.vonbank@delaware.gov. The mailing address is 1441 N. DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901.

For a certified Delaware criminal history, the only source is the State Bureau of Identification. The SBI has three offices. The Kent County SBI office is at 655 S. Bay Road, Suite 1B, Dover, DE 19901, phone 302-739-5871. It takes walk-ins most days. The Sussex County SBI office is at 546 S. Bedford Street, Room 202, Georgetown, DE 19947, phone (302) 739-2528. That office needs an appointment, and the print result is not same day.

The SBI fee is $52.50 for a state check. It is $69.00 for a state and federal check. Bring a photo ID. The office takes cash, credit or debit cards, bank checks, money orders, or company checks. Personal checks are not taken. For more on the services, see the DSP services page.

Delaware also keeps a public sex offender list. The SBI updates it each Friday. You can search by name or by a map radius. A free email sign-up sends alerts when a new offender is added near you.

Milford Arrest Records and Court Files

For a court file tied to a Milford case, the best first stop is CourtConnect. The Delaware Courts site links to it from the main page at courts.delaware.gov. You can search by name, by party, or by case number. Most basic case info is free. Certified copies cost a fee. The tool pulls from the Superior Court, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Justice of the Peace Court. Family Court files are more limited.

For a wanted person check or a recent arrest list, start with the Milford Police Department. If you can't find what you need, try the DSP arrest archive at dsp.delaware.gov/services. The DSP services page lists SBI office hours, fees, and the kinds of background checks the state handles.

The services page lists the SBI office hours, the fee chart, and the crash report path. It is the go-to state source for Milford residents who need a criminal history or a certified copy.

When you ask for a Milford arrest record, give the full name of the person, the date of birth or a close guess, the date of arrest if known, and the arresting agency. The more specific the request, the faster the reply.

More Milford Public Records Resources

For birth, death, marriage, or divorce certificates tied to a Milford resident, the source is the Delaware Division of Public Health Office of Vital Statistics. Vital records are not police records, but they often come up in the same search. The state charges a fee for each certified copy. You can apply online, by mail, or in person.

The Milford Public Library is at 11 SE Front Street. Library staff can help you use public terminals to search court files or state records. They can also guide you to legal reference books and to the Delaware Public Archives for older files. The Archives keeps historical police files after the retention period ends.

You can read past Attorney General FOIA opinions before you file. The 25-IB26 opinion on the Milford council meeting is a good example of how the state rules on FOIA gaps. If the city denies a request, you can petition the Attorney General by email to opengovernment@delaware.gov. The mailing address is 820 N. French Street, 6th Floor, Wilmington, DE 19801.

Common sources to try for a Milford-related public records search:

• Milford Police Department records unit at City Hall
• City of Milford online public records form
• Kent County Levy Court for county files
• Sussex County government for county files
• CourtConnect for court files
• SBI for a certified criminal history

For the full state FOIA portal, see delaware.gov FOIA. It lists every state agency and links to each online form.

Counties That Serve Milford

Milford is split by the Mispillion River, which is also the Kent and Sussex county line. That makes Milford one of the only cities in the state to sit in two counties at once. Pick the county that matches the part of Milford where the event took place to find the right office.

Nearby Delaware Cities

Other cities near Milford also run their own police records units. Harrington and Dover sit to the north in Kent County. Seaford and Lewes sit to the south in Sussex County. Each city page lists the local forms and contact info.