Bristol County Jail & House of Correction Inmate Bail & Bonds

Attleboro, Fall River, New Bedford and Taunton District Court judges and clerk-magistrates rule on release while their courts sit. Overnight and on weekends, a bail commissioner comes to the station house or to Ash Street. G.L. c. 276, section 58 opens with personal recognizance as the default for every one of these courts, and cash is meant only for a defendant who otherwise might not return.

New Bedford District Court and the other Bristol County courts may order a written promise to return, a cash sum, a bondsman's surety equal to that sum, or terms such as an ankle bracelet, being home by a set hour, or staying away from a named witness. Section 58 ties any sum to what the defendant can realistically pay.

The Bristol County Sheriff's Office runs scheduled bail times: weekdays at 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., midnight and 3 a.m. (3 a.m. for regional holds only), and on weekends and holidays also at 9 a.m. and noon. The 7:30 p.m. time is cancelled every third Wednesday for court system maintenance. Arrive 30 minutes early. Before driving over, check the amount with the Ash Street jail or the Faunce Corner Road number given above.

1. Call the Sheriff's main line, extension 2535, for inmate information and confirm where the person is held and the amount.
2. Ask what payment the commissioner accepts and the fee.
3. Bring a government photo ID.
4. Arrive 30 minutes before the bail time and keep the receipt.

Yes. Fall River Police, New Bedford Police and the eighteen other departments hold arrestees in station cells while a commissioner or clerk-magistrate is reached, or through to arraignment. Bail paid at the desk ends custody right there. Those who stay in are moved to a Sheriff's facility, very often the Ash Street Regional Lock-Up. Station phones are on our Bristol inmate search page; to fund an account for someone kept at Ash Street or Dartmouth, see sending money.

Yes. The Bristol County District Attorney's Office, 218 South Main Street, Suite 101, Fall River, MA 02721, 508-997-0711, can ask for a hearing under G.L. c. 276, section 58A. If the judge finds that nothing short of jail protects the community, the defendant can be held up to 120 days before trial.

A defendant can ask Bristol County Superior Court to review District Court bail. The Superior Court clerk is in Taunton at 9 Court Street, 508-823-6588, with sessions in Fall River, 508-491-3300, and New Bedford, 508-996-2051.

New Bedford District Court, 508-999-9700, and the other three District Courts appoint Committee for Public Counsel Services lawyers at arraignment after an income screening, and the clerk can name the one assigned.

Bristol County bail money goes from Ash Street or Faunce Corner Road to the District Court clerk on the complaint. A depositor whose defendant made every court date reclaims it at the end with the receipt; Attleboro District Court answers at 508-222-5900, Fall River District Court at 508-491-3200, and Taunton District Court at 508-977-6000.

Fall River and New Bedford courts have no role in a federal case; detention is decided by a magistrate judge at the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, 1 Courthouse Way, Suite 2300, Boston, MA 02210, 617-748-9152. Once sentenced, search the BOP inmate locator.

No. Ash Street or Faunce Corner Road may receive Form I-247A, which seeks custody for 48 more hours at most after the person would leave, under 8 CFR 287.7(d), and it survives the bail payment. Search the ICE detainee locator; ICE's Burlington office handles Dartmouth detainers at 781-359-7500.

Men sentenced in Bristol County to two and a half years or less serve at the North Dartmouth House of Correction, and women at the Women's Center. Longer terms go to the Department of Correction; check the Department of Correction lookup or our Massachusetts state prisons list, and see our Bristol court guide.