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.
Barnstable County, Massachusetts, has about 233,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by 15 city agencies and two campus, state or other agencies. An arrest 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 Barnstable County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Barnstable County public records, Massachusetts arrest records, Massachusetts inmate search and Massachusetts criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Barnstable County
The Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office - MA POST Commission is the county law enforcement agency of Barnstable County.
The FBI lists one city in Barnstable County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Barnstable Town, 49,831 residents: 1,192 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported 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 Barnstable County: Cape Cod Community College (campus police); the Barnstable County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Barnstable County
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.
- Barnstable Town: 1,192 for 2025, 1,225 for 2024, 1,575 for 2023, 1,503 for 2022, 1,536 for 2021 and 1,418 for 2020.
- Yarmouth: 571 for 2025, 649 for 2024, 628 for 2023, 606 for 2022, 594 for 2021 and 605 for 2020.
- Falmouth: 452 for 2025, 430 for 2024, 348 for 2022, 385 for 2021, 337 for 2020 and 487 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Mashpee: 265 for 2025, 257 for 2024, 308 for 2023, 329 for 2022, 311 for 2021 and 323 for 2020.
- Sandwich: 263 for 2025, 256 for 2024, 220 for 2023, 266 for 2022, 346 for 2021 and 379 for 2020.
- Bourne: 232 for 2025, 215 for 2024, 190 for 2023, 314 for 2021, 235 for 2020 and 376 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Provincetown: 208 for 2025, 133 for 2024, 147 for 2023, 172 for 2022, 132 for 2021 and 147 for 2020.
- Harwich: 143 for 2025, 149 for 2024, 187 for 2023, 203 for 2022, 216 for 2021 and 190 for 2020.
- Brewster: 71 for 2025, 80 for 2022, 107 for 2021, 109 for 2020 and 170 for 2019; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Chatham: 63 for 2025, 68 for 2024, 63 for 2023, 65 for 2022, 50 for 2021 and 59 for 2020.
- Orleans: 55 for 2025, 44 for 2024, 37 for 2023, 61 for 2022, 55 for 2021 and 57 for 2020.
- Wellfleet: 54 for 2025, 52 for 2024, 52 for 2023, 48 for 2022, 59 for 2021 and 44 for 2020.
Together, the 14 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,650 arrests that year. The 13 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,579 in 2025 against 3,567 in 2024, up 0.3 percent.
Dennis reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Barnstable County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Barnstable County 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 270 people, down from about 290 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 547 beds, and it ran at 31 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 Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office - MA POST Commission at mapostcommission.gov/current-agency/barnstable-county-sheriffs-office (page title: Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office | MA POST Commission), 84 State Street, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02109, 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 Barnstable County
An arrest in Barnstable County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Barnstable County Superior Court, kept by the Clerk of Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at capeandislandsda.gov/m/directory/department?did=6, phone (508) 362-8113).
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at barnstablecounty.massachusettscourt.us/court-records.html (page title: Barnstable County Court Records | Case Lookup), phone (508) 375-6684, belongs to a lower court, not to the Barnstable County Superior Court.
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 Barnstable County
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 Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office - MA POST Commission: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Barnstable Town: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Cape Cod Community College or the Barnstable County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (508) 362-8113, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: in the Barnstable County Superior Court it is kept by the Clerk of Courts. The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county, at barnstablecounty.massachusettscourt.us, phone (508) 375-6684, is a lower court's.
- Your own statewide record: a personal CORI request, free once a year online.
Cities in Barnstable County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Barnstable Town, the one city in Barnstable County. The FBI's list also carries the Yarmouth Police Department, the Wellfleet Police Department, the Orleans Police Department and 11 more as city agencies in Barnstable County; Yarmouth, Wellfleet, Orleans and 11 more are not among the cities above.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Barnstable County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Barnstable County each year?
Barnstable Town reported 1,192 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 14 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,650 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Barnstable County?
Ask the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office - MA POST Commission; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mapostcommission.gov.
Where are people arrested in Barnstable County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office - MA POST Commission; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Barnstable County?
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 Barnstable County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office - MA POST Commission for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Massachusetts Public Records Law the answer is due within 10 business days.
Is this the official Barnstable County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.