SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Bristol County, Massachusetts, has about 589,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by 20 city agencies and six 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 Bristol 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: Bristol County public records, Massachusetts arrest records, Massachusetts inmate search and Massachusetts criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Bristol County

The Bristol County Sheriff's Office is the county law enforcement agency of Bristol County.

The FBI lists five cities in Bristol County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:

  • New Bedford, 101,318 residents: 2,286 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Fall River, 94,689 residents: 2,970 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Taunton, 61,936 residents: 972 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Attleboro, 47,085 residents: 961 arrests reported for 2025.
  • North Attleborough Town, 31,210 residents: 262 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 Bristol County: the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Stonehill College, Bristol Community College and Wheaton College (campus police); the Bristol County Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (state agency); the Bristol County State Police (state police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Bristol County

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.

  • Fall River: 2,970 for 2025, 2,572 for 2024, 2,808 for 2023, 2,386 for 2022, 2,505 for 2021 and 2,777 for 2020.
  • New Bedford: 2,286 for 2025, 1,942 for 2023, 2,314 for 2022, 2,704 for 2021, 2,593 for 2020 and 3,820 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
  • Taunton: 972 for 2025, 1,003 for 2024, 846 for 2023, 833 for 2022, 1,094 for 2021 and 1,082 for 2020.
  • Attleboro: 961 for 2025, 1,046 for 2024, 1,166 for 2023, 774 for 2022, 707 for 2021 and 897 for 2020.
  • Seekonk: 480 for 2025, 519 for 2024, 390 for 2023, 359 for 2022, 374 for 2021 and 448 for 2020.
  • Mansfield: 436 for 2025, 405 for 2024, 381 for 2023, 345 for 2021 and 518 for 2019; 2020 and 2022 are missing months.
  • Dartmouth: 421 for 2025, 371 for 2024, 351 for 2022, 389 for 2021 and 413 for 2019; 2020 and 2023 are missing months.
  • Easton: 327 for 2025, 305 for 2024, 288 for 2023, 283 for 2022, 213 for 2021 and 181 for 2020.
  • Raynham: 323 for 2025, 315 for 2024, 122 for 2023, 146 for 2022, 224 for 2021 and 244 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
  • Somerset: 240 for 2025, 240 for 2024, 239 for 2023, 263 for 2022, 227 for 2021 and 245 for 2020.
  • Swansea: 228 for 2025, 224 for 2024, 194 for 2023, 207 for 2022, 226 for 2021 and 229 for 2020.
  • Freetown: 146 for 2025, 167 for 2024, 126 for 2023, 130 for 2022, 101 for 2021 and 117 for 2020.

Together, the 19 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,586 arrests that year. The 18 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 8,300 in 2025 against 7,999 in 2024, up 3.8 percent.

Through April 2026, the 15 agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,808 arrests, against 2,842 in the same months of 2025.

North Attleborough Town reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Bristol County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bristol 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 650 people, down from about 1,070 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,613 beds, and it ran at 40 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 Bristol County Sheriff's Office at masssheriffs.org/bristol-county-sheriffs-office (page title: Bristol County Sheriff's Office), phone (508) 995-6400, 400 Faunce Corner Road North Dartmouth, MA 02747, 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 Bristol County

An arrest in Bristol County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Bristol 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/bristol-county-superior-court, phone (508) 823-6588); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at bristolda.com/contact/district-attorney-offices, phone 508-997-0711).

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 Bristol 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 Bristol County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (508) 995-6400.
  • An arrest in New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, Attleboro or North Attleborough Town: 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 the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Stonehill College or Bristol Community College: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 508-997-0711, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Bristol County Superior Court, through the court records page at mass.gov, phone (508) 823-6588.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at countyofbristol.net (page title: Welcome to Bristol County, MA).
  • Your own statewide record: a personal CORI request, free once a year online.

Cities in Bristol County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the five cities in Bristol County: New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, Attleboro and North Attleborough Town. The FBI's list also carries the Mansfield Police Department, the Norton Police Department, the Raynham Police Department and 12 more as city agencies in Bristol County; Mansfield, Norton, Raynham and 12 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 Bristol County Superior Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Bristol County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Bristol County each year?

Fall River reported 2,970 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 19 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 10,586 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bristol County?

Ask the Bristol County Sheriff's Office at (508) 995-6400; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at masssheriffs.org.

Where are people arrested in Bristol County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Bristol County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Bristol 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 Bristol County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Bristol 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at countyofbristol.net.

Is this the official Bristol 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.