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 4, 2026.
Franklin County, Massachusetts, has about 71,000 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 Franklin 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: Franklin County public records, Massachusetts arrest records, Massachusetts inmate search and Massachusetts criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Franklin County
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office - MA POST Commission is the county law enforcement agency of Franklin County.
The FBI lists one city in Franklin County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Greenfield, 17,633 residents: 413 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 Franklin County: Greenfield Community College (campus police); the Franklin County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Franklin 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.
- Conway: 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.
- New Salem: 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.
- Charlemont: 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.
- Greenfield: 413 for 2025, 458 for 2024, 337 for 2023, 320 for 2022, 347 for 2021 and 265 for 2020.
- Deerfield: 111 for 2025, 112 for 2024, 88 for 2023, 104 for 2022, 160 for 2021 and 102 for 2020.
- Sunderland: 44 for 2025, 33 for 2024, 32 for 2023, 53 for 2022, 56 for 2021 and 51 for 2020.
- Shelburne: 36 for 2025, 45 for 2024, 38 for 2023, 40 for 2022, 20 for 2021 and 15 for 2020.
- Erving: 26 for 2025, 18 for 2024, 39 for 2023, 54 for 2022, 74 for 2021 and 118 for 2020.
- Northfield: 25 for 2025, 23 for 2024, 35 for 2023, 40 for 2022, 57 for 2021 and 93 for 2020.
- Bernardston: 22 for 2025, 31 for 2024, 35 for 2023, 21 for 2022, 13 for 2021 and 17 for 2020.
- Leverett: 16 for 2025, 22 for 2024, 11 for 2023, 13 for 2022, 10 for 2021 and 13 for 2020.
- Gill: 14 for 2025, 16 for 2024, 19 for 2023, 21 for 2022, 18 for 2021 and 22 for 2020.
Together, the 18 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,296 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,296 in 2025 against 4,345 in 2024, down 1.1 percent.
Montague and Orange reported only part of 2025 (11 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Franklin County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Franklin 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 190 people, down from about 200 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 334 beds, and it ran at 61 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 Franklin County Sheriff’s Office - MA POST Commission at mapostcommission.gov/current-agency/franklin-county-sheriffs-office (page title: Franklin County Sheriff’s Office | MA POST Commission), 84 State Street, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02109, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Franklin County
For Franklin County the place to look is the case index of the Franklin 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/franklin-county-superior-court, phone (413) 775-7400).
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 Franklin 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 Franklin County Sheriff’s Office - MA POST Commission: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Greenfield: 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 Greenfield Community College or the Franklin County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Franklin County Superior Court, through the court records page at mass.gov, phone (413) 775-7400.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at franklinma.gov (page title: Police Department Public Records Requests | Franklin, MA).
- Your own statewide record: a personal CORI request, free once a year online.
Cities in Franklin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Greenfield, the one city in Franklin County. The FBI's list also carries the Conway Police Department, the Shutesbury Police Department, the Sunderland Police Department and 17 more as city agencies in Franklin County; Conway, Shutesbury, Sunderland and 17 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 Franklin County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Franklin County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Greenfield (17,633)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Franklin County each year?
Conway reported 1,188 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 18 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,296 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Franklin County?
Ask the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office - MA POST Commission; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mapostcommission.gov.
Where are people arrested in Franklin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office - MA POST Commission; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Franklin 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 Franklin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Franklin 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at franklinma.gov.
Is this the official Franklin 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.