1. Open the official custody search.
2. Type the surname first, then the given name. Use the legal name on their ID, not a nickname.
3. No clear hit? Run the same name through VINELink.
4. VINE shows custody status and the facility. Jot down any ID number it lists.
5. Confirm by phone with Records at 973-631-5174. Staff will ask for the full name and date of birth.

Records takes calls on weekdays from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. If there is a death or other crisis in the family, ask for the shift commander at 973-631-5416.

• Booking isn't done. Intake and the first court steps take time. Wait a bit and try again, or call.
• Already home. New Jersey frees most people without bail, often within two days. A summons arrest means a court date, not a cell.
• Still at a police station. The arresting department may not have brought the person over yet. Call that department.
• Spelled another way. Try middle names, hyphenated names or a maiden name.
• Younger than 18. Teens go to juvenile detention, never this jail.
• Federal or ICE custody. Those agencies have lookups of their own.

Call Records at 973-631-5174. If you still have no answer, try the Sheriff's Office at 973-285-6600, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Arrests inside the county lead to John Street. When the arrest took place near the edge of the county, or in a neighboring one, try these jails as well:

• Essex County Correctional Facility, 354 Doremus Avenue, Newark, NJ 07105, 973-274-7500. Union County sends many of its adults here.
• Somerset County Jail, 40 Grove Street, Somerville, NJ 08876, 908-231-7150.
• Warren County Correctional Center, 175 County Route 519 South, Belvidere, NJ 07823, 908-475-7900. Hunterdon County's adults are housed here.
• Hudson County Adult Correctional Center, 30-35 South Hackensack Avenue, Kearny, NJ 07032, 201-395-5600.

Sussex County adults are housed on John Street, not in Sussex. Records at 973-631-5174 can say whether someone was moved.

VINELink shows custody status, with no photos. Under New Jersey law, booking photos count as criminal investigation records, and the state records council has upheld a police refusal to hand them out under the public records law (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9(a)). Ask Records at 973-631-5174 whether a photo can be shared, or call the Sheriff's Office at 973-285-6600.

• To get an ICE photo, file through ICE's records request system.
• Federal booking photos usually stay private, though the Marshals Service sometimes releases one, for example during a fugitive hunt.

• VINE sends free notices by phone, text, app, email or TTY when a person is released, transferred or taken out to court. Sign up on VINELink, by phone at 877-846-3465, or by TTY at 866-847-1298. Each kind of notice needs its own sign-up.
• VINE covers county jails and state prisons, and also sends parole notices.
• Crime victims can get support from the State Office of Victim-Witness Advocacy, 609-376-2461.

For an answer right now, Records at 973-631-5174 has the latest.

Since the start of 2017, cash plays only a small part in New Jersey release decisions (N.J.S.A. 2A:162-15 to -26). Pretrial Services scores each warrant arrest with a Public Safety Assessment. Then, within 48 hours of jailing, a judge decides. Most people leave on a signed promise or under monitoring. Prosecutors who want someone kept in can request a detention hearing. Money bail is a rare backup, meant only to get someone to court.

When bail is set, the jail takes cash, money orders and cashier's checks. Call Records at 973-631-5174 for the amount, the place and the hours. Our bail and release page has the full steps.

Records at 973-631-5174 can tell you what the person is charged with and where the case is filed. To look on your own:

• The Judiciary's Find a Case page, for Superior Court files
• The Municipal Court Case Search, for complaints in a town court
• Older files: the Criminal Records Room, 973-326-6950.

New Jersey uses its own labels. Indictable crimes, which most states call felonies, run from first degree, the gravest, to fourth degree. Disorderly persons offenses are smaller charges, close to misdemeanors, and stay in town court. Charges can change as the case moves, for example after a grand jury vote or a plea.

• Indictable charges: the court screens income with the 5A form, often at the first appearance. Approved cases go to the Office of the Public Defender, 2150 Headquarters Plaza, Morristown, NJ 07960, 973-631-6260.
• Town court charges: the town court hands out its own public defender application. The fee can reach $200, and the judge may lower it.
• Private lawyers: family can hire one at any stage.

Lawyers set up video meetings with clients by emailing jail Records at jailrecords@co.morris.nj.us.

Each inmate may have up to three visits a week. A visit is normally 30 minutes, stretched to an hour when time allows. Visiting days depend on the inmate's classification and can change, so call Records first at 973-631-5174.

• January to March and July to September: Saturday, 3rd floor 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2nd floor 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, 2nd floor 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3rd floor 2 to 7 p.m. Monday, 3rd floor, noon to 5 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, 2nd floor, at those same Monday hours.
• April to June and October to December: the floors trade places. Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons are for the 2nd floor. Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings are for the 3rd. Monday is the 2nd floor and Tuesday the 3rd.
• Registering: Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday and Tuesday noon to 9 p.m.
• Group size: two adults plus any related children under 18 who register with them, or three adults if no children come. Parolees and people in the Sheriff's Labor Assistance Program may not visit.
• ID: a current photo ID from a government: a driver's license, any state ID card, a military ID or a passport. A current high school or college ID is accepted too.
• Clothing: nothing see-through, skin-tight or revealing. Cover shoulders and midriff. Nothing shorter than mid-thigh, nothing that looks like a uniform, and no flip-flops.

Phones and tablets are not allowed in, and visitors are searched. Anyone who shows up with an active warrant gets taken into custody. Our visitation page has general advice.

• Money orders made out to the inmate can be mailed or dropped off. Staff accept them Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Web or phone deposits go through an outside service, toll-free at 866-345-1884. Each deposit carries a fee based on the amount.
• Lobby kiosk at the jail, open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., for cash, Visa or MasterCard.

Account money pays for commissary items. Never mail cash; staff pull it out and send it back. Our guide to deposits and commissary page go deeper.

Inmates can dial out, but nobody can call in. Most can use the phones every day from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and every call is recorded.

• Open a prepaid family account with the jail's phone provider. Fund it by credit card, check, money order or Western Union.
• Staff will not take or pass along phone messages.
• The jail can't deliver email to inmates, and staff won't print messages out. A paper letter is the way to write.
• For an urgent family emergency, such as the death of a parent or child, call the shift commander at 973-631-5416.

Our phone page explains prepaid calling in more depth.

Print the person's name clearly. No inmate number is required. Use this address: Morris County Correctional Facility, Attn: [Inmate's Name], 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960.

• Your full return address must be on the envelope, or the post office gets the letter back.
• Staff open and inspect every piece of mail.
• Greeting cards are banned. Stamps, envelopes and cash are pulled out and returned at the inmate's cost.
• Books and magazines must be softcover and shipped direct from an approved online store.
• Personal property and gifts from home can't be sent in. The one exception is clothes for trial or sentencing, by request.
• Mail that arrives after a release goes back to the sender.

General tips are on our mail page.

An inmate can mail property home at their own cost. Family can also collect it on the inmate's scheduled visiting day, once the inmate asks staff to release it. Bring photo ID. For leftover account money at release, ask Records at 973-631-5174 how the balance is returned.

The jail has its own medical and nursing unit, with medical and dental care. Treatment for opioid and alcohol use is available based on medical need, including Vivitrol, with a planned "warm handoff" to outside care at release. The Hope Wing, a voluntary recovery unit, runs with the county Department of Human Services.

• To pass on a health worry or a medication list, call Records at 973-631-5174 and ask how to reach medical staff.
• For a family emergency, ask for the shift commander at 973-631-5416.
• For help with Medicaid, food benefits, housing or jobs before release, the county reentry coordinator is at 973-631-5036.

Deputies from the Sheriff's Office, 56 Washington Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, 973-285-6600, and local police officers serve warrants. The State Police most wanted page lists New Jersey's top fugitives. To check one name, call the Sheriff's Office in office hours, or the court that issued the warrant. The Criminal Division, same address, handles Superior Court warrants: 862-397-5700, ext. 75340. Town warrants come from each municipal court. To deal with one, bring a lawyer and surrender at the jail, 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, or phone the court and ask for a fresh date. Visiting the jail with a warrant pending leads to an arrest on the spot.

• Superior Court: the Criminal Division at 862-397-5700, ext. 75340, or the Find a Case page.
• Town courts: search the complaint on the Municipal Court Case Search. Every town court and its number is in our court guide.
• In custody: Records at 973-631-5174 knows upcoming dates.
• Video court: the jail hosts video hearings and offers public viewing on weekends and holidays. Ask Records how to watch.

A federal arrest in this county is filed at the Newark federal courthouse, 50 Walnut Street, Room 4015, Newark, NJ 07101, 973-645-3730. The person appears before a magistrate judge on arrest day or the day after, and the judge usually takes up detention right then (18 U.S.C. 3142).

• Marshals custody lasts until the case ends, and the person is usually placed in a county jail. Ask the Newark Marshals office, 50 Walnut Street, Room 2009, Newark, NJ 07102, 973-645-2404, where they are.
• Two county jails that work with federal defendants are the Essex County Correctional Facility, 354 Doremus Avenue, Newark, NJ 07105, 973-274-7500, and the Hudson County Adult Correctional Center, 30-35 South Hackensack Avenue, Kearny, NJ 07032, 201-395-5600.
• After sentencing, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator by name or register number.

1. The process starts when John Street receives an ICE detainer, Form I-247A.
2. That hold can run up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE officers then take the person. One possible destination is the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility, 625 Evans Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07201, 908-282-5700.
4. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator using the full name plus birth country, or the A-number.
5. The ICE office for all of New Jersey is at 970 Broad Street, Floor 11, Newark, NJ 07102, 973-776-3274.

New Jersey's Immigrant Trust Directive cuts back step 2 at county jails. A jail may keep someone past release for ICE in just three situations: when the current charge, or any past conviction, is on the Directive's appendix of violent or serious offenses; people with an indictable conviction from the past five years; and people with a deportation order a federal judge signed that has been filed with the jail. Even then, ICE has until 11:59 p.m. that same date to collect them. Each ICE request must also be handed to the person on paper.

With a prison sentence, the person moves from John Street to a state reception center. Intake staff review health and other needs, choose a custody level and name a prison.

• Search the DOC's Incarcerated Person Search Engine, reached from its offender information page.
• Department of Corrections: Whittlesey Road, P.O. Box 863, Trenton, NJ 08625, 609-292-4036.
• Prison phone calls begin once the person's IPIN account is set up.
• Our New Jersey state prisons list describes each facility.

A youth under 18 who can't go home is held at the Morris County Juvenile Detention Center, 460 West Hanover Avenue, Morris Township, NJ 07960, 973-285-2959. The county's Department of Human Services runs the center, which also takes in youth from Sussex, Hunterdon and Warren counties. The case goes to the Superior Court's Family Part, and Family intake answers at 862-397-5700, ext. 75145.

Since fall 2019, every adult jailed by Sussex County has been housed on John Street. Since June 2024, Somerset County began sending both pretrial and sentenced detainees; that agreement runs through May 2029. Since October 22, 2024, Somerset books people in Somerville and then sends each of them on to this jail.

• Run the jail search first, then call Records at 973-631-5174.
• For the Sussex case itself, call the Sussex County Sheriff's Office, 39 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860, 973-579-0850.
• For Somerset, try the Somerset County Jail, 40 Grove Street, Somerville, NJ 08876, 908-231-7150.

Visits, mail and money for these inmates follow the John Street rules.

Pick the town where the arrest took place, and phone its department. Dial 911 for emergencies only.

North and the lakes

• Boonton (Town): 100 Washington Street, Boonton, NJ 07005, 973-402-9371
• Boonton Township: 155 Powerville Road, Boonton, NJ 07005, 973-402-4000
• Butler: 10 High Street, Butler, NJ 07405, 973-838-4100
• Denville: 1 St. Mary's Place, Denville, NJ 07834, 973-627-4900
• Jefferson Township: 1033 Weldon Road, Lake Hopatcong, NJ 07849, 973-697-1300
• Kinnelon: 130 Kinnelon Road, Kinnelon, NJ 07405, 973-838-5400
• Lincoln Park: 34 Chapel Hill Road, Lincoln Park, NJ 07035, 973-694-5533
• Montville Township: 360 Route 202, Montville, NJ 07045, 973-257-4300
• Mountain Lakes: 400 Boulevard, Mountain Lakes, NJ 07046, 973-334-1413
• Parsippany-Troy Hills: 3339 Route 46, Parsippany, NJ 07054, 973-263-4300
• Pequannock Township: 530 Newark-Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444, 973-835-1700
• Riverdale: 91 Newark-Pompton Turnpike, Riverdale, NJ 07457, 973-835-0034
• Rockaway Borough: 33 Maple Avenue, Rockaway, NJ 07866, 973-627-1314
• Rockaway Township: 65 Mount Hope Road, Rockaway, NJ 07866, 973-625-4000

West

• Dover: 37 North Sussex Street, Dover, NJ 07801, 973-366-0302
• Mount Arlington: 520 Altenbrand Avenue, Mount Arlington, NJ 07856, 973-398-2100
• Mount Olive: 204 Flanders-Drakestown Road, Budd Lake, NJ 07828, 973-691-0850
• Netcong: 19 Maple Avenue, Netcong, NJ 07857, 973-347-7700
• Randolph Township: 502 Millbrook Avenue, Randolph, NJ 07869, 973-989-7000
• Roxbury Township: 1715 Route 46, Ledgewood, NJ 07852, 973-448-2100
• Washington Township: 1 East Springtown Road, Long Valley, NJ 07853, 908-876-3232
• Wharton, which also polices Mine Hill: 10 Robert Street, Wharton, NJ 07885, 973-366-0557
• Victory Gardens, patrolled by the New Jersey State Police Netcong Station: 85 US Route 206 South, Netcong, NJ 07857, 973-347-1001

Central and south

• Chatham Borough: 54 Fairmount Avenue, Chatham, NJ 07928, 973-635-8000
• Chatham Township: 401 Southern Boulevard, Chatham, NJ 07928, 973-377-0100
• Chester Borough and Chester Township (Chester Combined Police Department): 1 Parker Road, Chester, NJ 07930, 908-879-5514
• East Hanover: 2 DeForest Avenue, East Hanover, NJ 07936, 973-887-0432
• Florham Park: 111 Ridgedale Avenue, Florham Park, NJ 07932, 973-377-2200
• Hanover Township: 1000 Route 10, Whippany, NJ 07981, 973-428-2512
• Harding Township: 21 Blue Mill Road, New Vernon, NJ 07976, 973-455-0500
• Long Hill Township: 264 Mercer Street, Stirling, NJ 07980, 908-647-1800
• Madison: Public Safety Complex, 62 Kings Road, Madison, NJ 07940, 973-593-3000
• Mendham Borough: 3 Cold Hill Road South, Mendham, NJ 07945, 973-543-2527
• Mendham Township: 3 Cherry Lane, Brookside, NJ 07926, 973-543-2581
• Morris Plains: 531 Speedwell Avenue, Morris Plains, NJ 07950, 973-538-2284
• Morris Township: 49 Woodland Avenue, Convent Station, NJ 07961, 973-539-0777
• Morristown: 200 South Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, 973-538-2200

County-wide

• Sheriff's Office: 56 Washington Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, 973-285-6600, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. After hours, the county communications center answers at 973-285-2900.
• Sheriff's Patrol Division: 300 Mendham Road, Morristown, NJ 07960, 973-326-7632