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 on September 23, 2026.
Dukes County, Massachusetts, has about 21,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by six city agencies and one state agency. 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 Dukes 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 and common questions.
Related guides: Dukes County public records, Massachusetts arrest records, Massachusetts inmate search and Massachusetts criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Dukes County
The Jail, Regional Lock-Up & House of Correction - DUKES COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE is the county law enforcement agency of Dukes County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Dukes County: the Dukes County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Dukes 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.
- Oak Bluffs: 194 for 2025, 150 for 2024, 148 for 2023, 238 for 2022, 188 for 2021 and 118 for 2020.
- Tisbury: 106 for 2025, 141 for 2024, 167 for 2023, 161 for 2022, 149 for 2021 and 168 for 2020.
- West Tisbury: 36 for 2025, 39 for 2024, 37 for 2023, 36 for 2022, 39 for 2021 and 29 for 2020.
- Chilmark: 18 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 14 for 2023, 6 for 2022, 12 for 2021 and 12 for 2020.
- Aquinnah: 1 for 2025, 9 for 2024, 3 for 2023, 4 for 2022, 2 for 2021 and 5 for 2020.
- Edgartown: 110 for 2024, 113 for 2023, 115 for 2021, 155 for 2020 and 161 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 355 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 355 in 2025 against 347 in 2024, up 2.3 percent.
Edgartown reported only part of 2025 (10 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Dukes County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Dukes 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 15 people, down from about 18 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 40 beds, and it ran at 45 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 Jail, Regional Lock-Up & House of Correction - DUKES COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE at dukescountysheriff.com/jail-house-of-corrections (page title: Jail, Regional Lock-Up & House of Correction | DUKES COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Dukes County
For Dukes County the place to look is the case index of the Dukes 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/dukes-county-superior-court, phone (508) 627-4668).
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 Dukes 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 Jail, Regional Lock-Up & House of Correction - DUKES COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: ask its records unit.
- An arrest by the Dukes County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Dukes County Superior Court, through the court records page at mass.gov, phone (508) 627-4668.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at dukescounty.gov (page title: Dukes County Massachusetts | Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: a personal CORI request, free once a year online.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Dukes County each year?
Oak Bluffs reported 194 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 355 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Dukes County?
Ask the Jail, Regional Lock-Up & House of Correction - DUKES COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at dukescountysheriff.com.
Where are people arrested in Dukes County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Jail, Regional Lock-Up & House of Correction - DUKES COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Dukes 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 Dukes County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jail, Regional Lock-Up & House of Correction - DUKES 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 dukescounty.gov.
Is this the official Dukes 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.