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 2, 2026.
Amesbury, Massachusetts, in Essex County, has about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Amesbury is held at the county jail, run by the Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Amesbury public records, Essex County inmate search, Amesbury arrest records, Amesbury warrants, Amesbury criminal records, Amesbury court records, Massachusetts arrest records and Massachusetts inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Amesbury
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Amesbury is held at the county jail, run by the Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA at essexsheriffma.org (page title: Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster.
The Essex County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 900 people, down from about 1,410 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,469 beds, and it ran at 68 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Essex County has about 824,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 11 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Essex County Jail
The Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA and the agency that reports for Amesbury (filed by the FBI as Amesbury Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Amesbury.
The FBI's agency list also places one state police unit, six campus police departments and one state agency in Essex County (the arrest records guide names each one).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Lynn's 2,380 for 2025, Lawrence's 1,354 for 2025 and Haverhill's 1,318 for 2025.
Together, the 32 agencies in Essex County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,140 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Amesbury arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Essex County serves the sentence in a facility of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, whose inmate locator is at mass.gov/how-to/find-someone-housed-in-a-massachusetts-prison.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Amesbury?
Ask the Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at essexsheriffma.org.
How many people are in the Essex County jail?
About 900 on an average day in 2025, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 1,469 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Essex County go?
To a facility of the Massachusetts Department of Correction; its inmate locator is at mass.gov.
Is this the official Amesbury website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.