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 2024. 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 30, 2026.
North Adams, Massachusetts, in Berkshire County, has about 12,000 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 Berkshire 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: North Adams public records, Berkshire County arrest records, Massachusetts arrest records and Massachusetts inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in North Adams
The FBI lists North Adams with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as North Adams Police Department. It reported 699 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year. 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 Berkshire County: Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (campus police); the Berkshire County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests North Adams Reports
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.
- North Adams: 699 for 2024, 613 for 2023, 642 for 2022, 682 for 2021, 599 for 2020 and 721 for 2019.
North Adams's 699 arrests in 2024 were up 14 percent from 613 in 2023.
Across Berkshire County, the 18 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,310 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in North Adams Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in North Adams and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 180 people, down from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 478 beds, and it ran at 39 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 Berkshire County Sheriff's Office - at bcsoma.org (page title: Berkshire County Sheriff's Office -), phone (413) 443-7220, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Massachusetts Department of Correction lists its inmates at mass.gov/how-to/find-someone-housed-in-a-massachusetts-prison.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in North Adams
For North Adams the place to look is the case index of the Berkshire 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/berkshire-county-superior-court, phone (413) 499-7487).
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 North Adams
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 North Adams police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at northadams-ma.gov/government/departments_offices/administrative_off... (page title: North Adams, MA), phone (413) 662-3000, 10 Main Street North Adams, MA 01247, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office -: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (413) 443-7220.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Berkshire County Superior Court, through the court records page at mass.gov, phone (413) 499-7487.
- Your own statewide record: a personal CORI request, free once a year online.
The Berkshire County guide covers every agency in the county: Berkshire County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in North Adams each year?
North Adams reported 699 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in North Adams?
Ask the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office - at (413) 443-7220; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at bcsoma.org.
Where are people arrested in North Adams booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office -; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in North Adams?
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 North Adams?
From the agency that made the arrest: the North Adams police for its own arrests, the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office - for the sheriff's. Under the Massachusetts Public Records Law the answer is due within 10 business days.
Is this the official North Adams 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.