Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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 30, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
New York County, New York, has about 1.7 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by one campus 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 New York County Supreme and County Courts. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: New York County public records, New York arrest records, New York inmate search and New York criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in New York County
The New York City Police Department polices all five boroughs of New York City, New York County among them, and reports its arrests to the FBI as one agency, so they are not broken out for New York County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in New York County: the Optometry State University of New York Police (campus police).
Booking: Where People Arrested in New York County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in New York 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 6,710 people on an average day, up from about 2,590 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,509 beds, and it ran at 81 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 sheriff's office at nyc.gov/site/doc/inmate-info/inmate-lookup.page (page title: Department of Correction), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, whose inmate locator is at nysdoccslookup.doccs.ny.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in New York County
An arrest in New York County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the sheriff's office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; eCourts, the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily), which shows whether charges were filed.
New York is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Office of Court Administration sells a statewide search of criminal court records by name and date of birth, for $95 a search, through the New York State Office of Court Administration. 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 New York 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 Freedom of Information Law the agency must answer within 5 business days, at least with an acknowledgment and a date for the full answer, and it may charge copying at 25 cents a page.
- An arrest by the Optometry State University of New York Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in New York County?
Look on the custody page of the sheriff's office at nyc.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in New York County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in New York County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the New York State Office of Court Administration: the Office of Court Administration sells a statewide search of criminal court records by name and date of birth, for $95. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Freedom of Information Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in New York County?
From the agency that made the arrest: for most arrests in New York County, the New York City Police Department. Under the Freedom of Information Law the answer is due within 5 business days, at least with an acknowledgment and a date for the full answer.
Is this the official New York 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.