Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 26, 2026.
South Plainfield, New Jersey, in Middlesex County, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the County Prosecutor files charges, a case in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Middlesex County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: South Plainfield public records, Middlesex County arrest records, New Jersey arrest records and New Jersey inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in South Plainfield
The FBI lists South Plainfield with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as South Plainfield Police Department. It reported 298 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 706 arrests for 2023.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Middlesex County: Middlesex County College and Rutgers University at New Brunswick (campus police); Prosecutor in Middlesex County (other); the Middlesex County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests South Plainfield 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.
- South Plainfield: 298 for 2025, 408 for 2024, 350 for 2023, 294 for 2022, 531 for 2020 and 787 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
South Plainfield's 298 arrests in 2025 were down 27 percent from 408 in 2024.
Through September 2026, South Plainfield reported 218 arrests, against 215 in the same months of 2025.
Across Middlesex County, the 21 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,840 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in South Plainfield Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in South Plainfield 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 2023 the jail held about 560 people, up from about 530 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 1,436 beds, and it ran at 39 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office at middlesexcountynj.gov/government/departments/department-of-public-s... (page title: Inmate Lookup | Middlesex County NJ), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was 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.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the New Jersey Department of Corrections lists its inmates at www20.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/inmatefinder?i=I.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in South Plainfield
Whether someone was arrested in South Plainfield, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; New Jersey Courts Public Access, the Judiciary's free online case search for civil and criminal cases, which shows whether charges were filed; the County Prosecutor, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at middlesexcountynj.gov/government/departments/department-of-public-s...).
New Jersey does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the New Jersey State Police goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in South Plainfield
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 Open Public Records Act the agency must answer within 7 business days, and it may charge copying at 5 cents a page for letter size.
- An arrest by the South Plainfield police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at southplainfieldnj.com/spnj/Police/Records (page title: Police Records), phone (908) 226-7670, 2480 Plainfield Avenue South Plainfield, NJ 07080, Monday - Friday 08:00 AM to 4:00 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Prosecutor handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at middlesexcountynj.gov (page title: Request for Open Public Records Act (OPRA) Documents | Middlesex County NJ).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Police.
The Middlesex County guide covers every agency in the county: Middlesex County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in South Plainfield each year?
South Plainfield reported 298 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in South Plainfield?
Look on the custody page of the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office at middlesexcountynj.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in South Plainfield booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in South Plainfield?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Middlesex County are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the New Jersey State Police is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Open Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in South Plainfield?
From the agency that made the arrest: the South Plainfield police for its own arrests, the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Open Public Records Act the answer is due within 7 business days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at middlesexcountynj.gov.
Is this the official South Plainfield 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.