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.
East Orange, New Jersey, in Essex County, has about 72,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in East Orange is held at the county jail, run by the Essex County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: East Orange public records, Essex County inmate search, East Orange arrest records, East Orange warrants, East Orange criminal records, East Orange court records, New Jersey arrest records and New Jersey inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in East Orange
A person kept in custody after an arrest in East Orange is held at the county jail, run by the Essex County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Essex County Sheriff's Office at essexdoc.com/inmate-info (page title: Inmate Info | Department of Correction), 354 Doremus Avenue Newark, NJ 07105, Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 3:00 pm., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone booked recently. A person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
The Essex County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 2,190 people, up from about 2,020 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 2,434 beds, and it ran at 90 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Essex County has about 882,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 25 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Essex County Jail
The Essex County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for East Orange (filed by the FBI as East Orange Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around East Orange.
The FBI's agency list also places four campus police departments, one other agency and one state police unit in Essex County (the arrest records guide names each one).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Newark's 6,842 for 2025, the Essex County Sheriff's Office's 2,847 for 2020 and East Orange's 867 for 2025.
Together, the 21 agencies in Essex County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 11,312 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in East Orange arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Essex County serves the sentence in a facility of the New Jersey Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at www20.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/inmatefinder?i=I.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in East Orange?
Look on the custody page of the Essex County Sheriff's Office at essexdoc.com/inmate-info. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Essex County jail?
About 2,190 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 2,434 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Essex County go?
To a facility of the New Jersey Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at www20.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/inmatefinder?i=I.
Is this the official East Orange website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.