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 September 30, 2026.
Berkshire County, Massachusetts, has about 129,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by 21 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 Berkshire 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: Berkshire County public records, Massachusetts arrest records, Massachusetts inmate search and Massachusetts criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Berkshire County
The Berkshire County Sheriff's Office - is the county law enforcement agency of Berkshire County.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Pittsfield, 43,121 residents: 910 arrests reported for 2025.
- North Adams, 12,492 residents: 699 arrests reported for 2024.
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 Berkshire County: Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (campus police); the Berkshire County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Berkshire 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.
- Sheffield: 1,188 for 2025, 1,188 for 2024, 1,188 for 2023, 1,188 for 2022, 1,188 for 2021 and 1,188 for 2020.
- Richmond: 1,188 for 2025, 1,188 for 2024, 1,188 for 2023, 1,188 for 2022, 1,188 for 2021 and 1,188 for 2020.
- Pittsfield: 910 for 2025, 959 for 2024, 925 for 2023, 881 for 2022, 832 for 2021 and 772 for 2020.
- Adams: 254 for 2025, 233 for 2024, 195 for 2023, 199 for 2022, 155 for 2021 and 211 for 2020.
- Great Barrington: 214 for 2025, 170 for 2024, 121 for 2023, 95 for 2021, 94 for 2020 and 141 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Lanesboro: 135 for 2025, 93 for 2024, 75 for 2023, 42 for 2022 and 37 for 2021.
- Lenox: 90 for 2025, 101 for 2024, 70 for 2023, 78 for 2022, 64 for 2021 and 64 for 2020.
- Williamstown: 86 for 2025, 79 for 2024, 74 for 2023, 72 for 2022, 45 for 2021 and 38 for 2020.
- Lee: 83 for 2025, 81 for 2024, 70 for 2023, 79 for 2022, 94 for 2021 and 71 for 2020.
- Dalton: 37 for 2025, 65 for 2024, 77 for 2023, 73 for 2022, 88 for 2021 and 111 for 2020.
- Cheshire: 36 for 2025, 18 for 2024, 18 for 2023, 18 for 2022, 7 for 2021 and 12 for 2020.
- Egremont: 21 for 2025, 15 for 2024, 15 for 2023, 31 for 2022 and 30 for 2021.
Together, the 18 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,310 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,310 in 2025 against 4,264 in 2024, up 1.1 percent.
North Adams reported only part of 2025 (10 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Berkshire County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Berkshire County 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 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 Berkshire County
For Berkshire County 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 Berkshire County
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 Berkshire County Sheriff's Office -: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (413) 443-7220.
- An arrest in Pittsfield or North Adams: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts or the Berkshire County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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.
Cities in Berkshire County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Berkshire County: Pittsfield and North Adams. The FBI's list also carries the Sheffield Police Department, the Stockbridge Police Department, the Tyringham Police Department and 16 more as city agencies in Berkshire County; Sheffield, Stockbridge, Tyringham and 16 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 Berkshire County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Berkshire County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Pittsfield (43,121)
- North Adams (12,492)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Berkshire County each year?
Sheffield reported 1,188 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 18 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,310 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Berkshire County?
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 Berkshire County 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 Berkshire 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 Berkshire County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office - 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 Berkshire 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.