Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Somerset County, New Jersey, has about 357,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In New Jersey the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Superior Court Clerk and the County Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the New Jersey State Police is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Somerset County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Somerset County public records, Somerset County arrest records, Somerset County warrants, Somerset County inmate search, Somerset County court records, New Jersey arrest records and New Jersey inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Somerset County
In New Jersey the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Somerset County are heard by the Superior Court of New Jersey, Somerset County, which hears every civil, criminal, family and probate case, and the file of each case is kept by the Superior Court Clerk and the County Clerk.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at liveacclaim.co.somerset.nj.us/AcclaimWeb (page title: Somerset County Office of the Clerk), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
Statewide, New Jersey Courts Public Access is the Judiciary's free online case search for civil and criminal cases.
The New Jersey Criminal History and Your Own Copy
The statewide criminal history kept by the New Jersey State Police is closed to the public in New Jersey: it is released to its subject and to authorized employers and licensing agencies, and a member of the public uses the court's own case index instead.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based request to the State Police. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at njsp.njoag.gov/criminal-history-records.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Somerset County
The Somerset County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for North Plainfield, Somerville, Bound Brook, Manville, Raritan, Bernardsville and four more cities keep the arrest records in Somerset County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Somerset County: the Somerset County State Police (state police); Prosecutor in Somerset County (other agency); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the 18 agencies in Somerset County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,566 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Somerset County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Somerset County in 2025
The 18 agencies in Somerset County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 195 violent and 1,747 property crimes to the FBI that year; the 14 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,667 crimes in 2025 against 2,025 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Somerset County public records guide.
The County Prosecutor for Somerset County
Charges in Somerset County are filed by the County Prosecutor, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Somerset County.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at somersetcountynj.gov/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDire... (page title: Prosecutor's Office | County Complexes | Somerset County), phone (908) 575-3300, 40 North Bridge Street P.O. Box 3000 Somerville, NJ 08876, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Somerset County
Registered sex offenders living in Somerset County are listed on the New Jersey Sex Offender Internet Registry, run by the New Jersey State Police at njsp.njoag.gov/nj-sex-offender-registry. Tier 2 and Tier 3 offenders are listed online, unless a court excludes them.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Somerset County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Open Public Records Act a county office must answer a request within 7 business days, and it may charge copying at 5 cents a page for letter size. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at somersetcountynj.gov/about/open-public-records-act/request-for-publ... (page title: Request for Public Records | Somerset County).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Somerset County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Somerset 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.
Can I search Somerset County criminal cases online?
New Jersey Courts Public Access is the Judiciary's free online case search for civil and criminal cases.
How do I get my own New Jersey criminal history?
Through a fingerprint-based request to the State Police.
Who prosecutes crimes in Somerset County?
The County Prosecutor, reached at (908) 575-3300, which files its cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Somerset County.
Is this the official Somerset 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.