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 25, 2026.
Reading, Pennsylvania, in Berks County, has about 96,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Reading is held at the county jail, run by the Berks 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: Reading public records, Berks County inmate search, Reading arrest records, Reading warrants, Reading property records, Pennsylvania arrest records and Pennsylvania inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Reading
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Reading is held at the county jail, run by the Berks County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Berks County Sheriff's Office at berkspa.gov/departments/jail-system/inmate-services (page title: Berks County | Inmate Services), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster.
The Berks County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 720 people, down from about 1,040 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,396 beds, and it ran at 54 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Berks County has about 439,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 17 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Berks County Jail
The Berks County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Reading (filed by the FBI as Reading Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Reading.
The FBI's agency list also places two other agencies, two campus police departments, three state agencies and one state police unit in Berks County (the arrest records guide names each one).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Reading's 2,337 for 2025, Exeter Township's 1,007 for 2025 and Spring Township's 570 for 2024.
Together, the 24 agencies in Berks County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,758 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 Reading arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections lists its inmates at inmatelocator.cor.pa.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Reading?
Ask the Berks County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at berkspa.gov.
How many people are in the Berks County jail?
About 720 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 1,396 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Berks County go?
To a facility of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at inmatelocator.cor.pa.gov.
Is this the official Reading 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.