Bristol County Inmate Population

Bristol County's inmate population spans three separate facilities run by Sheriff Paul Heroux. The main complex sits in North Dartmouth with over 1,100 beds for men and a Women's Center that holds up to 106 people. A third site, the Ash Street Jail in New Bedford, dates back to 1888 and is one of the oldest jails still in use anywhere in the country. Unlike some counties in Massachusetts, Bristol County does not have an online inmate search tool. You need to call the jail or file a records request to find someone in custody. This page covers all the ways to search the Bristol County inmate population, how to get records, and what to know about each facility.

How to Search Bristol County Inmate Population

Bristol County does not offer an online inmate lookup tool. This sets it apart from counties like Essex and Middlesex that post rosters on their websites. If you need to find out whether someone is in custody at one of the Bristol County facilities, your main option is to call by phone.

Call 508-995-6400 ext. 2535 to reach the jail. Staff can check if a person is being held. Phone lines are open Monday through Saturday, 8 AM to 4 PM. Outside those hours, you can try the main line at 508-995-6400 and ask to speak with someone in booking. Have the person's full name ready. A date of birth helps too. Staff will tell you if the person is in custody and which facility they are at.

For the Ash Street Jail in New Bedford, call 508-996-6704 directly. That facility has its own booking desk. If you are not sure which location someone is at, call the main Dartmouth number first. They can check across all three Bristol County facilities from that line.

The state-level DOC inmate search will not show people held at the county level. It only covers state prisons. If someone has a felony sentence over 2.5 years, they may have been transferred to a state facility. Use the DOC tool for that. For county holds and short sentences, the phone search through the Bristol County Sheriff's Office is the way to go.

Bristol County Facilities

The Bristol County House of Correction and Jail is the largest of the three facilities. It sits at 400 Faunce Corner Road in North Dartmouth. The campus has over 1,100 beds and houses male inmates. Pre-trial detainees and sentenced inmates are both held here. Under M.G.L. Chapter 276, Section 52, sheriffs hold pre-trial detainees who cannot make bail until their case is resolved or they post bond.

The Bristol County Sheriff's Office website is the starting point for finding facility details, public records forms, and contact information.

The site lists the sheriff's programs, news, and links for families of people in custody.

The Women's Center is on the same Faunce Corner Road campus. It holds up to 106 women in a medium-security setting. This is the only female facility in Bristol County. Women arrested anywhere in the county come here for booking and housing. The center has its own programming, including substance abuse treatment and reentry planning.

Ash Street Jail sits at 226 Ash Street in New Bedford. Built in 1888, it is one of the oldest operating jails in the United States. The facility can hold over 200 prisoners. Despite its age, it remains active and handles a portion of the Bristol County inmate population. The jail has been the subject of renovation talks for years, but it continues to operate in its original building.

Bristol County Inmate Population Records

Public records about the Bristol County inmate population are available under M.G.L. Chapter 66, Section 10. This law gives any person the right to request records from a public agency. The Bristol County Sheriff's Office must respond within 10 business days of getting your request.

The public records page on the sheriff's website lays out what you can and cannot get.

That page has the forms and contact details you need to start a request.

The Records Access Officer for Bristol County is Michael Arnold. You can reach him at 508-995-1311 ext. 2406 or by email at publicrecords@bcso-ma.org. The public records page on the sheriff's site has full details on the process. Records you can request include public contracts, grant awards, inmate census data, and budget documents.

Some records are off limits. CORI data is not available through a public records request. That goes through the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services instead. ICE detainee identification records are also not available. Under M.G.L. Chapter 4, Section 7, certain law enforcement materials and personal data fall under exemptions. Medical records, internal investigations, and attorney-client communications are all protected.

Fees follow the state schedule. The first four hours of search time are free. After that, charges can go up to $25 per hour. Copies cost $0.05 per page. Electronic records that already exist in digital form can be sent by email at no charge.

Custody Alerts and Bristol County Inmate Population

Bristol County does not participate in VINELink. This is a notable gap. VINELink is the national victim notification system that sends alerts when an inmate's custody status changes. Many counties and the Massachusetts DOC use it. Bristol County does not. If you need to track whether someone in the Bristol County inmate population has been released or transferred, you will have to check manually.

Call 508-995-6400 ext. 2535 during business hours to get a status update. There is no automated way to get notified about a release from a Bristol County facility. For people held at the state level, VINELink works for DOC prisons. But for county-level inmates in Bristol County, the phone is your only real option right now.

Crime victims who want updates should contact the Bristol County District Attorney's office. They can sometimes coordinate with the sheriff's office on release notifications for specific cases. That is a separate process from VINELink and depends on the case.

Visiting the Bristol County Inmate Population

Visiting at Bristol County facilities requires advance planning. The rules are strict. All visitors must fill out an application form, and that form has to be notarized before the jail will process it. This is not common at every county jail in Massachusetts, but Bristol County requires it. Plan for extra time to get the notarization done.

Once approved, each inmate gets two visits per week. Each visit lasts up to 60 minutes. All visits are non-contact. There is a strict dress code. The jail can turn you away if your clothing does not meet the rules. Check the sheriff's website for the current dress code policy before you go.

Phone calls from Bristol County facilities go through Securus Technologies. As of December 1, 2023, all calls from the jail are free. This was a major change. Before that date, families had to pay per-minute rates or set up prepaid accounts. Now inmates can call approved numbers at no cost. This applies to all three Bristol County facilities.

Sending Money and Mail to Bristol County Inmates

Commissary deposits for the Bristol County inmate population go through Access Corrections. You can make deposits online at accesscorrections.com. There is also a lobby kiosk at the Dartmouth facility, but it takes cash only. Deposit limits are capped at $300 per single transaction, $500 per week, and $1,500 per month.

Mail rules depend on which facility the person is at. For inmates at the main Dartmouth complex or the Women's Center, address your mail to the inmate's name and ID number at 400 Faunce Corner Road, North Dartmouth, MA 02747. For people held at the Ash Street Jail, use 226 Ash Street, New Bedford, MA 02740. All mail is screened by staff before it reaches the inmate. Do not send cash, stamps, or anything other than letters and approved photos.

Court Records and Inmate Population Data

Court records are not held by the sheriff's office. Those come from the Massachusetts Trial Court system. You can search criminal dockets online at masscourts.org. That site covers all courts in Bristol County, including the New Bedford District Court, Fall River District Court, and Taunton District Court. Search by name or case number to find charges, hearing dates, and case outcomes.

Criminal history records work through a different system entirely. CORI checks are handled by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services. Under M.G.L. Chapter 276, Section 100A, some records can be sealed after a waiting period. Misdemeanors are eligible after three years. Felonies take seven years. Once sealed, those records will not appear in a standard CORI check or in any public search of the Bristol County inmate population.

The Massachusetts Sheriffs' Association keeps a directory of all 14 county sheriff offices. If you are not sure which county holds a person or which court handled a case, that directory can point you in the right direction.

Bristol County in the State Corrections System

Massachusetts splits its inmates between state prisons and county facilities. State prisons hold people with felony sentences longer than 2.5 years. The Department of Correction runs those. County jails like the ones in Bristol County hold pre-trial detainees and people with shorter sentences. Under M.G.L. Chapter 126, Section 16, the sheriff has custody of all people committed to the county jail or house of correction.

Bristol County's three facilities give it more capacity than most counties in the state. The combined bed count across the HOC, Women's Center, and Ash Street Jail puts it among the larger county systems. New Bedford, Fall River, and Taunton are the major cities in the county, and arrests from those areas make up a large share of the inmate population.

If someone was in Bristol County custody but you can no longer find them through the sheriff's office, they may have been transferred to a state prison. Use the DOC inmate search to check state facilities. They could also have been released, had charges dropped, or posted bail. The only way to confirm is to call the jail or check court records.

Cities in Bristol County

Bristol County has several cities and towns. The three largest cities each have their own pages with local details about the inmate population and search options.

All residents of these cities who are held at the county level go to one of the three Bristol County facilities in North Dartmouth or New Bedford.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Bristol County. Each has its own sheriff and jail system. If you are not sure which county holds a person, check the town where the arrest took place. That determines the facility.