Obtain Free Suffolk County Arrest Records: Search Tools

Search free Suffolk County arrest records today. Check out the links and steps covered throughout this brief resource to see who is in the custody of local law enforcement agencies throughout the county, as these are considered public records accessible by any citizen.

This streamlined article helps inform readers on important information necessary for effectively looking up arrest records in Suffolk County, New York, should the need arise.

How To Track Down Updated Suffolk County Arrest Records, Inmate Rosters & Mugshots for Free

In America, all states are required to have a state law that complies with the Federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIL).¹ The State of New York is no exception.

The Part 1401 of the Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of New York (NYCRR) is state law version of the Freedom of Information Act which allows any member of the public to access, search, and inspect any and all records generated by any state agency, with the exception of records that have been designated as on-public records due to some special circumstance. This includes arrest records for Suffolk County.

The structure of law enforcement agencies are such that the objectives of various agencies at different jurisdictional levels vary in their scope of operations.

For example, uniformed street cops that are employees of the municipal police departments and Suffolk County Police Officer’s are typically assigned to dealing with the lower-level crimes and traffic enforcement. These officers execute arrests when warrants are issued in their local jurisdictions, or when calls for police interdiction are made by local citizens.

When New York State Police Officers or US Government federal law enforcement agents are performing operations in Suffolk County that result in an arrest, all arrestees are processed at the county jail facilities, which is where the arrest record originates.

The Suffolk County Police Department provides law enforcement services for all the townships in the county area. There are seven precincts in the Suffolk County Police Department, each of which is assigned a specific area of the county.

The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office operates independently from the police department to accomplish different law enforcement objectives such as operating the two county jail facilities.

Some of the towns in Suffolk County however, do have their own police department. For example, the town of Riverhead does have its own independent police department. However, it does not operate a jail or detention center.

When an arrest takes place anywhere in Suffolk County and the booking process is done at the county jail, the police arrest record originates there. If the law enforcement agency that made the arrest is not from the Suffolk County Police Department or Sheriff’s Office, that agency will also keep a record of the police report on file, as will the county jail facility where the booking process and detention takes place.

Suffolk County does not provide online search tools to lookup arrestees that are current inmates in custody at the county jail facilities. Inquiries about inmates have to be made in person or by phone to either the county jail facilities, the Sheriff’s Office, or the precinct of the Suffolk County Police Department which executed the arrest.

The first of the two jail facilities in Suffolk County is the Riverhead Correctional Facility. It can be contacted or visited at the following contact/location information:

Riverhead Correctional Facility
100 Center Drive South
Riverhead, New York, 11901

Phone: (631)-852-2200

The second jail facility is Yaphank Correctional Facility. It can be contacted or visited at the following contact/location information:

Yaphank Correctional Facility
200 Glover Drive
Yaphank, New York, 11980

Phone: (631)-852-2200

The second option for obtaining information on inmates in custody in Suffolk County is by contacting the sheriff’s office if the arrest was conducted by a Sheriff’s Deputy. The sheriff’s office will have on file the original police report. The Suffolk Sheriff’s Office can be contacted or visited at the following contact/location information:

Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office
200 Suffolk Ave.
Yaphank, New York, 11980

Phone: (631)-852-2200

The third option is for when a Suffolk County Police Officer executes the arrest. Depending on where in Suffolk County the arrest takes place, the county police precinct that is assigned to that location will be the precinct to contact to obtain information about the arrest.

The seven precincts can be contacted or visited at the following contact/location information:

When the inmate leaves the county jail, and as the case winds its way through the judicial process, the arrest record becomes an integral part of the court case file. However, the initial police/arrest record will reside with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department and/or the County Police Department, or the local police department that initiated the arrest.

There are also private organizations such as VINELink that provide the public information on criminal cases and custody status information.² This resource can be very useful for searching prior arrests. Finding arrest records for prior older arrests are explained in detail in the next section of this article.

How To Reveal Prior Crimes & Arrest Details in Suffolk County New York

Suffolk does not have a county court system that serves the county exclusively. The state has a statewide court system known as the New York State Unified Court System.

It is used by all counties and municipalities throughout the state. People that have prior arrest, or have a prior criminal record in Suffolk County and have had a court case adjudicated within the New York State Unified Court System can search and lookup the court record.

The New York State Unified Court System maintains a database of all court records which are made available to the public. The court system’s public website provides an online court records search tool that can be used to find records for prior arrests.³ A search can be initiated with just the first and last name of the defendant.

Selecting the Suffolk County Court for the court search field will narrow down the search. Once the search is completed, a list of court cases matching the search criteria.

The case number is included as one of the fields in the list of records. This field is linked to a webpage that shows all the details of the specific court case.

An inquiry about prior court cases can be made by telephone or in-person by contacting or visiting the Suffolk County Clerk’s Office at the following information:

Suffolk County Clerk’s Office
310 Center Drive
Riverhead, New York, 11901

Phone: 631.852.2000

To obtain the full police record for a prior arrest made by a Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, or a County Police Department, or an arrest made at the municipal level, the records can be obtained from the Suffolk County Police Departments via a Freedom of Information Act request.⁴

The Suffolk County Police Central Record Department can be contacted or visited at the following contact/location information:

Suffolk County Police Department
Central Records Location
30 Yaphank Avenue
Yaphank New York 11980

Phone: 631.862.6000

The majority of people never experience being arrested and are therefore not very familiar with the process. In the unfortunate circumstance when a person is arrested, getting out of jail becomes the most immediate goal to them.

How To Post Bail or Use a Bail Bondsman in Suffolk County New York

Subsequent to an arrest and the booking process thereafter, a bond hearing usually follows within a 24-hours period.

This is when the bail amount for the case is typically determined by the presiding judge and needs to be posted by the arrestee ( now referred to as a defendant rather than arrestee) in order to be released from custody.

There are certain situations in which defendants may be released on their own personal recognizance. In this case, the amount of bail may be completely eliminated. This is normally the case for defendants that are arrested for the first time for a non-violent offense of a minor crime.

For those offenders that have prior criminal records, especially those that include serious crimes, the judge determines a bail amount based on the seriousness of the crime committed, and the severity of the defendant’s criminal history. Defendants whom the judge considers a flight risk and are repeat violent offenders will typically end up with a ruling that includes a much higher bail. In extreme cases, bail may sometimes be denied altogether.

No matter what the case be, all defendants are afforded the right to be represented by an attorney at the bond hearings in order to attempt to secure the best possible bond outcome.

At the conclusion of the bond hearing the judge sets the bail amount. If the defendant has the financial resources to pay in full the bail amount, the bail can be posted at the court, or at the jail facility where the defendant is being held in custody. Sometimes a judge exercises their discretion and may only require a portion of the bail be posted.

For defendants with limited financial resources that preclude them from paying the full bail amount, they may have to solicit the services of a bail bondsman. Bondsmen are often used to obtain a surety bond to cover the bail and be released from custody.

A bail agency, which is also referred to as a bail bondsman, puts up the entire bail amount, and charges a hefty fee (as high as 20%) and typically demands a form of collateral to secure the bond, often in the form of a home or other valuable asset.

If the defendant fails to make the court appearance as ordered to on the assigned date, the funds for the bail payment are forfeited to the court. Once the defendant does appear in court as mandated, the bail funds are usually returned at the end of the trial, with any fines or restitution amounts reduced from the total if the defendant is found guilty of any charges resulting from the court case.

All the municipalities within Suffolk County use the New York State Unified Court System.⁶ Consequently, the procedures for hearings and posting bail are similar.

The process of searching Suffolk County detention records will only happen if a person has been arrested themselves, or someone very close to them. In this situation, being well informed as quickly as possible on how to search Suffolk County arrest records becomes a matter of greatest importance; the information provided in this article can help with this endeavor.