Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 September 25, 2026.
Amherst Town, Massachusetts, in Hampshire County, has about 41,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Hampshire County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Amherst Town public records, Hampshire County arrest records, Massachusetts arrest records and Massachusetts inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Amherst Town
The FBI lists Amherst Town with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Amherst Police Department. It reported 639 arrests for 2025. A city is listed 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 Hampshire County: the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Smith College, Amherst College and Mount Holyoke College (campus police); the Hampshire County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Amherst Town Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Amherst Town: 639 for 2025, 656 for 2024, 493 for 2023, 478 for 2022, 740 for 2021 and 615 for 2020.
Amherst Town's 639 arrests in 2025 were down 2.6 percent from 656 in 2024.
Across Hampshire County, the 17 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,454 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Amherst Town Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Amherst Town is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 120 people, down from about 210 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 287 beds, and it ran at 73 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Hampshire County Sheriffs Office Home at hampshiresheriffs.com (page title: Hampshire County Sheriffs Office Home), Monday: 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison 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.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Amherst Town
For Amherst Town the place to look is the case index of the Hampshire County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mass.gov/locations/hampshire-county-superior-court, phone (413) 584-5810).
Statewide, masscourts.org is the Massachusetts Trial Court's free online case search.
Massachusetts is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: open access iCORI lets anyone request limited conviction information by name, for $25 a search, through the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services. 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 Amherst Town
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 Massachusetts Public Records Law the agency must answer within 10 business days, and it may charge staff time after the first four hours for towns and two for the state, plus copying.
- An arrest by the Amherst Town police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at amherstma.gov/288/Records-Bureau (page title: Records Bureau | Amherst, MA), phone 413-259-3016, 111 Main Street Amherst, MA 01002, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Hampshire County Sheriffs Office Home: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hampshire County Superior Court, through the court records page at mass.gov, phone (413) 584-5810.
- Your own statewide record: a personal CORI request, free once a year online.
The Hampshire County guide covers every agency in the county: Hampshire County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Amherst Town each year?
Amherst Town reported 639 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Amherst Town?
Ask the Hampshire County Sheriffs Office Home; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hampshiresheriffs.com.
Where are people arrested in Amherst Town booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hampshire County Sheriffs Office Home; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Amherst Town?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services: open access iCORI lets anyone request limited conviction information by name, for $25. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Massachusetts Public Records Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Amherst Town?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Amherst Town police for its own arrests, the Hampshire County Sheriffs Office Home for the sheriff's. Under the Massachusetts Public Records Law the answer is due within 10 business days.
Is this the official Amherst Town 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.