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.
Nantucket County, Massachusetts, has about 15,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by one city agency 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 Nantucket 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: Nantucket County public records, Massachusetts arrest records, Massachusetts inmate search and Massachusetts criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Nantucket County
The Nantucket County Sheriff Department is the county law enforcement agency of Nantucket County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Nantucket County: the Nantucket County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Nantucket Reports
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.
- Nantucket: 225 for 2025, 190 for 2024, 182 for 2023, 183 for 2022, 166 for 2021 and 293 for 2020.
Nantucket's 225 arrests in 2025 were up 18 percent from 190 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Nantucket reported 126 arrests, against 114 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Nantucket County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Nantucket 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 2024 the jail held about 17 people, down from about 21 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 41 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 Nantucket County Sheriff Department at nantucketcountysheriffoffice.com (page title: Nantucket County Sheriff Department), 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 Nantucket County
For Nantucket County the place to look is the case index of the Nantucket 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/nantucket-district-court, phone (508) 228-0460).
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 Nantucket 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 Nantucket County Sheriff Department: ask its records unit.
- An arrest by the Nantucket County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Nantucket County Superior Court, through the court records page at mass.gov/locations/nantucket-district-court, phone (508) 228-0460.
- Your own statewide record: a personal CORI request, free once a year online.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Nantucket County each year?
Nantucket reported 225 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Nantucket County?
Ask the Nantucket County Sheriff Department; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at nantucketcountysheriffoffice.com.
Where are people arrested in Nantucket County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Nantucket County Sheriff Department; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Nantucket 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 Nantucket County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Nantucket County Sheriff Department 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 Nantucket 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.