Use these steps, in this order:

1. Open the official custody lookup. Type the last name first, then the first name.
2. Try spelling changes. Use a nickname or maiden name, add a middle name, or drop a hyphen.
3. Search the same name on VINELink. Its reach takes in the county jails and the state prisons statewide.
4. Call the Morris jail, 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, at 973-631-5174. Be ready with the person's full name and birthday. Ask if the person is there and what the charges are.
5. Write down any number the jail gives you. It helps with deposits, visits and later calls.

The Morris jail's mail rules ask for no inmate number, so a clear full name is enough for letters.

A blank search is common in New Jersey, and it is not always bad news. The usual reasons:

• They were given a summons. More than half of people charged in the state get a complaint-summons and go home with a court date.
• They are already out. The first appearance ends with release for most warrant defendants.
• They are still on the way. Sheriff's officers have to drive them from this county to Morristown.
• Another agency has them. A warrant from somewhere else, a federal arrest or an ICE hold can put them in a different place.
• The name was typed differently.

Call the Morris records office, 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, at 973-631-5174. If they are not there, phone the arresting police agency (listed in the last answer) or the Sheriff's Office, 39 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860, 973-579-0850.

• Adults: the Morris County Correctional Facility, 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, 973-631-5174. Morris began housing this county's women in April 2019, and all its adults that fall, under a shared services deal.
• Youth under 18: the Morris County Juvenile Detention Center, 460 West Hanover Avenue, Morris Township, NJ 07960, 973-285-2959.
• The old Newton jail: the Keogh-Dwyer Correctional Facility, 41 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860, behind the Judicial Center. It opened in 1978. Today it is the command center for the Sheriff's Bureau of Corrections. Its officers drive inmates to Morris, to court and to medical visits. Questions go to the Sheriff's Office at 973-579-0850.
• Next door in Warren County: the Warren County Correctional Center, 175 County Route 519 South, Belvidere, NJ 07823-1950, 908-475-7900, for someone wanted on a Warren case.

Usually not. State records law treats arrest photos as part of a criminal investigation file. In Melton v. City of Camden (2013), the Government Records Council backed a city that said no to a request for them. Expect the same answer to a public records request today. Reporters can ask the Sheriff's Office, 39 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860, at 973-579-0850.

The Sheriff's Wanted List shows people sought on warrants. For a photo ICE holds, file a request through ICE's FOIA page. Federal booking photos are normally kept from the public, although the U.S. Marshals Service sometimes shares a fugitive's picture.

Yes, through VINE. This free state service tells you if someone is locked up, and in which facility. It covers county jails like the one in Morristown, plus state prisons. Families use it to track a loved one, not only crime victims.

• Search online at VINELink or in the VINELink app.
• Call 877-846-3465. TTY users can call 866-847-1298.
• Sign up for each kind of alert you want: phone, text, email or app.

Alerts can come when someone is released, moved, sent out to court or acted on by the parole board. VINE is a tool, so call the jail to be sure before you drive to Morristown.

Since January 1, 2017, when Criminal Justice Reform took effect (N.J.S.A. 2A:162-15 to -26), cash bail has been the rare exception in this state. The typical defendant leaves without paying anything. After a warrant arrest, Pretrial Services first scores a Public Safety Assessment, and the law gives the judge two days at most to decide.

The judge can let the person go on a promise to return, add conditions like check-ins or an ankle monitor, set money bail in rare cases, or hold them after a detention hearing. When money bail is set, the Morris jail, 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, accepts cash, money orders or cashier's checks. Call 973-631-5174 first. Pretrial Services for this county is at the Judicial Center, 43-47 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860, 862-397-5700, ext. 75317. Our bail guide has the full steps.

Ask the Morris jail, 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, at 973-631-5174. Staff can usually tell family the charges and the court. You can also call the Superior Court's Criminal office, 43-47 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860, at 862-397-5700, ext. 75700.

New Jersey has two main kinds of charges. Indictable crimes, in four degrees, are like felonies in other states. They go to the Superior Court in Newton. Disorderly persons offenses are like misdemeanors. Those stay in the local town court.

After filing, a Superior Court case can be pulled up through Find a Case on the Judiciary site. For tickets and complaints in a town court, start at the Judiciary's municipal courts page.

A person facing an indictable charge may request a public defender by filling in the court's 5A form on income and assets. A judge rules on it. A judge may appoint one at the first appearance itself. The local office is at 20 East Clinton Street, Newton, NJ 07860, 973-383-9445.

For town court, ask the court clerk about the municipal public defender. It is for people who could face jail, lose a driver's license or owe over $800 in penalties and who meet the income test. There is a fee of up to $200, which the judge can cut or drop. Some families hire a private attorney instead.

Visits for Sussex inmates happen at the Morris jail, 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960. Most people get three visits a week, usually 30 minutes each, on days set by their housing floor. The floor schedule changes each quarter, so call 973-631-5174 to check the days.

• Register on Saturday or Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., or Monday or Tuesday from noon to 9 p.m.
• Bring a valid photo ID issued by a government: a driver's license, any state's ID card, a passport or a military ID.
• Up to two adults may come, plus related children who register with them. Three adults may come if there are no children.
• Leave phones and tablets behind. You and your things will be searched.
• Dress modestly: no see-through or tight clothes, no flip-flops, and nothing shorter than mid-thigh.

People on parole may not visit. Neither may people taking part in a SLAP work program, which this county's Sheriff also runs. Anyone with an open warrant who shows up to visit will be taken into custody. Our visitation page covers more.

The Morris jail, 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, 973-631-5174, offers three ways:

• Money order. Make it out to the inmate. Mail it, or hand it in Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Lobby kiosk. Open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. It takes cash, Visa and Mastercard.
• Online or by phone with the outside deposit service the jail uses, at 866-345-1884. A fee is charged based on the amount.

Never mail cash. Cash found in letters is taken out. Account money can be spent at the jail commissary. Our money page and commissary page go into detail.

Most inmates can use the phones every day from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Inmates can only dial out, and no one can phone in to them. Staff will not relay messages either. To get calls, set up a prepaid AdvancePay account by card, check, money order or Western Union. Every call is recorded.

The jail says email to inmates is not possible. Letters are the way to write. For an emergency, like a death in the family, call the shift commander at the jail, 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, at 973-631-5416. Our phone page and email page have more.

Address letters like this:

Morris County Correctional Facility
Attn: [Inmate's Name]
43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960

• Print the full name clearly. No inmate number is needed.
• Put your return address on the outside. Mail without one goes back to the post office.
• Do not send greeting cards. Cash, stamps and envelopes are removed.
• All mail is opened and checked.
• Softcover books and magazines must ship straight from an approved online store.

Mail that comes after someone leaves is sent back. Our mail page has more tips.

The Morris jail stores whatever was taken at booking. Family can't drop off clothes, gifts or other items, with one exception. Clothes for a trial or sentencing may be brought if requested.

An inmate can mail personal items out at their own cost. Relatives may also collect items on request, on the visiting day assigned to the inmate. Call 973-631-5174 to arrange it and to ask what is handed back at release. Bring a photo ID to 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960.

The Morris jail has a medical and nursing unit on site, plus dental care. It offers medication-assisted treatment when there is a medical need. That can include Vivitrol started in the jail, with a handoff to an outside provider at release.

If you know about a health problem, a needed medicine or a recent injury, call the jail at 43 John Street, Morristown, NJ 07960, 973-631-5174 right away and ask for the message to reach medical staff. For a true emergency at night or on a holiday, call the shift commander at 973-631-5416. The county's re-entry coordinator helps with plans and benefits before release at 973-631-5036.

The Sheriff's Warrant Unit handles Superior Court warrants out of the Sheriff's Office, 39 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860, 973-579-0850. Look at the Sheriff's Wanted List and at New Jersey's Most Wanted, the State Police list. To check a name by phone or in person, contact the Criminal office at the Judicial Center, 43-47 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860, 862-397-5700, ext. 75700. For a town court warrant, ask that town's own court. The safest way to clear one is to turn in with a lawyer, or to phone the issuing court about getting a fresh date.

For a Superior Court case, search the Judiciary's Find a Case page or call the Criminal office, 43-47 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860, at 862-397-5700, ext. 75700. The building is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

For a town court case, use the Municipal Court Case Search from the municipal courts page with the ticket or complaint number, or call that town's court. If you don't know the town, the Judiciary can help at 609-421-6100.

Sheriff's officers drive Sussex inmates from Morristown to their hearings in Newton. Our court guide lists every court with its address and phone.

When federal agents make the arrest, the case is handled in Newark by the U.S. District Court, 50 Walnut Street, Newark, NJ 07101, 973-645-3730. Within a day of the arrest, a magistrate judge holds the first hearing, which is normally when detention is argued (18 U.S.C. 3142(f)).

While the case is open, the person is held by the U.S. Marshals. That may be in a county jail or a federal detention center. Call the Marshals at 50 Walnut Street, Room 2009, Newark, NJ 07102, 973-645-2404, to ask where. The Federal Public Defender is at 1002 Broad Street, Newark, NJ 07102, 973-645-6347.

After a sentence, the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator can find them by name or by BOP number.

Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. ICE's Newark office is at 970 Broad St., 11th Floor, Newark, NJ 07102, 973-776-3274.

Here is how a pickup from a jail happens. ICE sends Form I-247A, a detainer. On it, ICE asks that the person be kept up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)). ICE then comes for them, often taking them to the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility, 625 Evans Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07201, 908-282-5700.

New Jersey's Immigrant Trust Directive limits this in county jails. Holding someone for ICE is allowed only in three cases. The first is a pending charge or old conviction on the state's violent or serious list. The second is an indictable conviction dated less than five years back. The third is a final removal order that carries a federal judge's signature. Even then, the hold runs out at 11:59 p.m. that day, and written notice of the request must go to the person.

Search the New Jersey Department of Corrections from its offender information page, or call the DOC at 609-292-4036. Its central office is on Whittlesey Road, Trenton, NJ 08625.

After sentencing, people first go to a reception center for testing. Then the DOC assigns a custody level and a prison. Phone calls start once the person's phone ID number is set up. Visiting rules at reception differ by center, so call before going. Our New Jersey state prisons directory gives each prison its own entry.

The adult jail is off limits for minors. A teen from this county who must be detained goes to the Morris County Juvenile Detention Center, 460 West Hanover Avenue, Morris Township, NJ 07960, 973-285-2959. Call there to ask about visits and rules.

Youth charges are heard by the Superior Court's Family Part, inside the Judicial Center, 43-47 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860. The Family Division line is 862-397-5700, ext. 75184. The public defender's local office, 20 East Clinton Street, Newton, NJ 07860, handles youth defense questions too: 973-383-9445.

Some people sentenced here never sit in the Morris jail. The Sheriff runs two programs:

• SLAP (Sheriff's Labor Assistance Program). Certain non-violent offenders do community work under sheriff's officers on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays instead of jail time.
• Home Detention Program. Minimum-security people with sentences of 10 to 364 days serve them at home on a GPS ankle monitor. They need a sponsor they live with and must live in or near the county. It is not open to first-degree crimes or charges with required jail time. Costs are a $50 sign-up fee by postal money order, $10 a day or $70 a week for GPS, and $20 drug and alcohol tests at least once a week.

Ask about either program at 973-579-0865 or at the Sheriff's Office, 39 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860, 973-579-0850.

Eleven towns have their own police. Call the non-emergency line:

• Andover Township Police: 145 Lake Iliff Road, Newton, NJ 07860, 973-383-5544
• Byram Township Police: 10 Mansfield Drive, Stanhope, NJ 07874, 973-347-4008
• Franklin Borough Police: 15 Corkhill Road, Franklin, NJ 07416, 973-827-7700
• Hamburg Borough Police: 9 Orchard Street, Hamburg, NJ 07419, 973-827-6211
• Hardyston Township Police: 149 Wheatsworth Road, Suite B, Hamburg, NJ 07419, 973-823-7022
• Hopatcong Borough Police: 111 River Styx Road, Hopatcong, NJ 07843, 973-398-5000
• Newton Police: 39 Trinity Street, Newton, NJ 07860, 973-383-2525
• Ogdensburg Police: Borough Hall, 14 Highland Avenue, Ogdensburg, NJ 07439, 973-827-3160
• Sparta Township Police: 65 Main Street, Sparta, NJ 07871, 973-729-6121
• Stanhope Police: 77 Main Street, Stanhope, NJ 07874, 973-347-4533
• Vernon Township Police: 21 Church Street, Vernon, NJ 07462, 973-764-6155

State Police towns. Frankford, Wantage, Montague and Fredon are patrolled by the New Jersey State Police from the Augusta station, U.S. Route 206, Augusta, NJ 07822, 973-383-1514.

Other towns. Andover Borough, Branchville, Green, Hampton, Lafayette, Sandyston, Stillwater, Sussex Borough and Walpack have no police department of their own. If someone was arrested in one of them, call the Sheriff's Office, 39 High Street, Newton, NJ 07860, 973-579-0850, or the State Police station in Augusta listed above.

The Sheriff's Office has its own Traffic Unit, which works mostly in towns without local police, plus K-9 teams and a Warrant Unit.