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 October 1, 2026.
Union City, New Jersey, in Hudson County, has about 67,000 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, Hudson 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: Union City public records, Hudson County arrest records, New Jersey arrest records and New Jersey inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Union City
The FBI lists Union City with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Union City Police Department. It reported 688 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 Hudson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,375 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Hudson County: Stevens Institute of Technology (campus police); Prosecutor in Hudson County (other); the Hudson County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Union City 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.
- Union City: 688 for 2025, 1,003 for 2023, 1,095 for 2022, 2,072 for 2020 and 2,223 for 2019; 2021 and 2024 are missing months.
Through August 2026, Union City reported 384 arrests, against 471 in the same months of 2025.
Across Hudson County, the 13 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,411 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Union City Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Union City 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 1,350 people, up from about 920 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 1,700 beds, and it ran at 80 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 Hudson County Sheriff's Office at ea.pennds.org/hudson-county-correctional-center-inmate-lookup-every... (page title: Hudson County Correctional Center Inmate Lookup: Everything You Need to Know | pennds.org), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 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 person sentenced to prison 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.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Union City
Whether someone was arrested in Union City, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Hudson County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Hudson County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at njcourts.gov/public/find-a-case).
Statewide, New Jersey Courts Public Access is the Judiciary's free online case search for civil and criminal cases.
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 Union City
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 Union City police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at unioncitypd.org/faq_category/bureau-of-criminal-identification-records (page title: Bureau of Criminal Identification & Records | Union City Police Department), phone (201) 348-5795, 3715 Palisade Ave Union City, NJ 07087, Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 4:00 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Hudson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of New Jersey, Hudson County, through the court records page at njcourts.gov/public/find-a-case.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Police.
The Hudson County guide covers every agency in the county: Hudson County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Union City each year?
Union City reported 688 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Union City?
Look on the custody page of the Hudson County Sheriff's Office at ea.pennds.org. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Union City booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hudson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Union City?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Hudson 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 Union City?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Union City police for its own arrests, the Hudson County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Open Public Records Act the answer is due within 7 business days.
Is this the official Union City 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.