1. Open the Sheriff's inmate search.
2. Type the surname, then the given name. A shorter spelling may catch more results.
3. Match the birth date, since common names repeat.
4. For a second check, run the name in VINE. Its result reads as either held or released.
5. Call Central Records at 631-852-2241 to learn which jail has the person and whether bail is set. Staff answer 24 hours a day.

Write down the exact jail. Visits, mail and bail all depend on it.

An empty result can have several causes:

• Still at the police station. Before arraignment, the arresting police agency keeps the person. In the western towns that wait usually ends at District Court in Central Islip, where arraignments happen every day.
• Sent home with a ticket. Many lower charges end with a desk appearance ticket and no jail stay (CPL 150.20).
• Released by the judge. Most people charged with misdemeanors walk out after arraignment.
• Booked minutes ago. Records can lag behind the paperwork.
• Spelled differently. Search again with a nickname, a maiden name or both halves of a hyphenated surname.
• Under 18. Teens never go to the adult jails.
• Federal or ICE custody. Those agencies have their own locators.

When in doubt, phone Central Records at 631-852-2241 with the full name and birth date.

The Sheriff's Corrections Division runs both county jails. Each one holds men and women at every security level.

• Riverhead Correctional Facility, 100 Center Drive South, Riverhead, NY 11901. It has up to 840 beds in linear and podular housing, a medical and mental health unit, and the Choose Your Path program. All bail bonds are posted here.
• Yaphank Correctional Facility, 200 Glover Drive, Yaphank, NY 11980. It holds up to 976 people in dorms and pods. It runs an addiction treatment program, a veterans pod, a pod for people 55 and older, and a program for women. The Sheriff's re-entry center is on its grounds.

Both jails share the line 631-852-2200. If the arrest happened near the county line, also check the Nassau County Correctional Center, 100 Carman Avenue, East Meadow, NY 11554, 516-572-4200. Nassau is the only county that touches this one by land.

New York law treats police booking photos as private. Releasing one is allowed only when it serves a real law enforcement purpose (Public Officers Law § 89(2)(b)(viii)). So the custody tools here give names and status, not pictures.

• Anyone, including the press, may phone the Sheriff's Office at 631-852-2200 to ask about a records request.
• ICE photos need a request through the agency's records request form.
• Pictures from federal bookings are kept private, though the Marshals may hand one out now and then, for example to catch someone on the run.

New York sheriffs take part in VINE, a free service that tracks custody status in the state's county jails, New York City jails and state prisons.

1. Search the person on VINELink by name.
2. Pick the right record and choose to register.
3. Enter a phone number or email address for alerts.

You can also call 888-846-3469 to check status or register by phone. Phone alerts keep ringing until you enter your PIN or 48 hours pass. The person in jail is not told that you signed up.

Under the bail law in force since 2020, most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony arrests end with the person going home. A judge may set money bail or order remand only for a qualifying offense (CPL 510.10(4)). When bail is set, the judge must offer at least three ways to post it (CPL 520.10).

• Bail is taken around the clock at the Riverhead jail, 100 Center Drive South, Riverhead, NY 11901.
• The Yaphank jail, 200 Glover Drive, Yaphank, NY 11980, takes bail from 7:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily.
• Bring cash, a bank or cashier's check during banking hours, or a credit card with the cardholder there in person. Card payments carry a 7% charge plus a service fee.
• You must know the person's date of birth to post.

Call Central Records at 631-852-2241 for the amount. Our bail and release guide lays out every payment rule and refund step.

The charges are read aloud at arraignment, and the defense lawyer gets a copy. Family members have three good ways to find out:

• Central Records. Call 631-852-2241 and ask what the person is being held on.
• WebCrims. Search the name on WebCrims. Open cases with an upcoming date show the charges and the court part.
• The lawyer. Legal Aid's District Court office answers at 631-853-5212.

A charge shows its level. Felonies, the serious crimes that can mean state prison, run from class A to class E. Misdemeanors are lesser crimes, and the most local jail time for one is 364 days. Violations aren't crimes at all. The charge can change after a grand jury meets, so check again later.

Every person in custody is presumed to qualify for a free lawyer, and one must be at the arraignment.

• Legal Aid Society. The county's public defender has its main office at 400 Carleton Avenue, 4th Floor, Central Islip, NY 11722. The Riverhead office answers at 631-852-1650, and the Family Court unit at 631-853-4343.
• Assigned counsel. If Legal Aid has a conflict, the judge assigns an outside attorney through the Assigned Counsel Defender Plan, free of charge.
• Hiring a lawyer. The county bar's referral service is at 631-234-5577, weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Lawyers set up booth visits and video or phone talks with jailed clients through Attorney Visiting at 631-852-3356.

Visits are by appointment only. Before booking, fill out the Sheriff's online guest form once for each person you plan to see.

• Reservations: 631-852-1893.
• Tuesday to Friday: 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. and 8:15 to 9:15 p.m.
• Saturday: 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
• Group size: two adults per visit, all registered ahead of time.
• ID: a state driver's license or permit, a DMV non-driver ID, a U.S. military ID or a foreign passport in English with a photo.
• Children: visitors under 18 need a parent, a legal guardian or a signed Parental Acknowledgement Form on file. Bring each child's original birth certificate or court papers.

If you lack an ID, the START Resource Center at 631-852-5391 may help. State rules give each person at least two hours of visits a week (9 NYCRR 7008.3). More details are on our visiting page.

Commissary items like snacks and soap are bought with account funds. Families can send it four ways:

• Lobby kiosks in the visiting areas of both jails take cash, credit and debit cards.
• Online by card through the payment service the Sheriff links.
• By phone at 866-345-1884.
• By mail with a money order sent to the jail's mailing address. No personal checks.

Each deposit is capped at $100, and a service fee comes out of it. Money usually lands in about 15 minutes. Whatever is left goes home with the person on a debit card. Our deposit guide goes deeper, and our commissary page lists what can be bought.

People who are booked must be allowed to make phone calls when they arrive and must be told about that right (9 NYCRR 7002.8). After that, calls are paid through the jail's phone company. Families set up a prepaid account on that company's website so the person can call out.

For written messages, the Sheriff points families to an electronic letter service. You pay online, and the letter or photo is printed at the jail, sometimes the same day. It works on a phone, tablet or computer. Our phone page and electronic mail page walk through sign-up.

Paper mail for either jail goes to one address:

C/O the person's full name
Suffolk County Correctional Facility
110 Center Drive South, Riverhead, NY 11901

• Add the date of birth on the front of the envelope if the person has a common name.
• Use plain white envelopes only.
• Leave out stamps, stickers, Polaroids, photos larger than 5x7 and cards larger than 6x9.
• Up to 15 photos, 5 paperback books, 5 magazines and 2 current newspapers are allowed. Books and magazines must ship from the publisher or a well-known online seller.

Staff may open personal mail to look for contraband. Letters from lawyers or courts get opened only in front of the person (9 NYCRR 7004.4). Read our mail guide before sending a package.

Belongings taken at booking are held until release. Money brought in at booking is added to the person's account, and the balance goes back on a debit card at release.

To pick up items for someone still inside, call 631-852-2200. Ask which jail has the property, the pickup times and whether you need a signed release from the person. Bring a photo ID. Extra or banned items mailed or dropped off are returned at the person's cost, or thrown away if no one claims them.

Each jail has its own medical, dental and mental health unit, plus a rehabilitation unit. Yaphank also has a separate medical pod.

• Officers must attend to the medical and mental health needs of anyone in custody (Civil Rights Law § 28).
• The HALT law limits solitary confinement. It mostly bans it for people 21 or younger and 55 or older. It also covers pregnant people and people with disabilities.
• Call the jail at 631-852-2200 to report a health worry. Share medicines and doctors' names, but staff may limit what they say back.
• To report mistreatment, call the Sheriff's Internal Affairs hotline at 631-852-3819.
• The state Commission of Correction oversees county jails. It is at the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building, 80 S. Swan Street, Albany, NY 12210, 518-485-2346.

Warrants in this county are chased by the Sheriff's Warrant Squad, based in the Family Court Building at 400 Carleton Avenue, Central Islip, NY 11722. Phone the Sheriff's Office at 631-852-2200 and ask whether one is active. Wanted people sought statewide are posted on the State Police wanted list. Court searches skip cases stuck on a warrant, so a clerk call works better. Before turning in, talk to a lawyer, such as Legal Aid at 631-853-5212. Then go together to the court that issued the warrant and ask for a new date. Most western-town warrants come from District Court, 400 Carleton Avenue, Central Islip, NY 11722, 631-208-5775.

1. Search the name on WebCrims. It covers every criminal court in the county.
2. Note the court, the part and the time.
3. If the case isn't there, call the court. District Court in Central Islip answers at 631-208-5775. In Riverhead, the County Court criminal office answers at 631-852-1462.

The court will not move a District Court date over the phone. Our court guide has every town and village court, with addresses and numbers.

Federal charges from anywhere on Long Island are heard at the courthouse at 100 Federal Plaza, Central Islip, NY 11722, 631-712-6000. The first court date includes a detention hearing, where a judge rules on going home (18 U.S.C. 3142).

• Before trial, the person sits in U.S. Marshals Service custody. Ask the Marshals district office, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Room G20S, Brooklyn, NY 11201, 718-473-3000, where the person is held.
• Many federal detainees in this district stay at MDC Brooklyn, 80 29th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232, 718-840-4200.
• Once sentenced, look them up on the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.
• PACER posts the federal filings, with a per-page charge.

1. ICE can lodge Form I-247A, a detainer, with the Sheriff.
2. That asks the jail to hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. If agents collect the person, custody passes to the ICE field office in Manhattan, at 26 Federal Plaza, 9th Floor, Suite 9-110, New York, NY 10278, 212-436-9315.
4. Detainees can land at the Buffalo (Batavia) Service Processing Center, 4250 Federal Drive, Batavia, NY 14020, 585-344-6500, or be moved out of state.
5. Look them up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

New York sets limits on local help. The Sheriff of this county was the respondent in the 2018 case People ex rel. Wells v DeMarco. There, a state appeals court ruled that New York law gives local officers no authority for civil immigration arrests. On August 25, 2026, every 287(g) agreement in the state became void under Executive Law § 170-k. Civil Rights Law § 28 blocks civil immigration arrests of people coming to or leaving court, without a warrant or order signed by a judge.

Once a judge imposes more than a year for a felony, state corrections takes over from the county. The state collects them within about ten business days of the county's notice. They spend time at a reception center for testing and classification, then move to an assigned prison.

• Search the DOCCS Incarcerated Lookup by last name and birth year, or by DIN.
• No internet? Call DOCCS on weekdays at 518-457-5000.
• Our New York prisons directory covers visiting and mail at each one.

People under 18 are never booked into the Riverhead or Yaphank jails. State law keeps them in juvenile detention when they are held.

• Police have to tell a parent or guardian the moment they take a child in.
• Questioning must happen in a room the courts approve, and it must be recorded on video.
• A held child sees a Family Court judge within 72 hours, sooner if court opens first.
• A 16- or 17-year-old facing a felony starts out in the Youth Part, and many of those cases shift to Family Court.

Call the Probation Department at 631-852-4396 to ask which detention center has the teen. The Family Court clerk in Central Islip answers at 631-740-3800.

Knowing who made the arrest tells you which court the case starts in. These departments work in the county.

Countywide

• Sheriff's Office, 100 Center Drive South, Riverhead, NY 11901, 631-852-2200. Deputies patrol, serve warrants and run the jails.
• Suffolk County Police Department headquarters, 30 Yaphank Avenue, Yaphank, NY 11980. Non-emergency: 631-852-2677.
• New York State Police, Troop L: Brentwood station, 800 Crooked Hill Road, Brentwood, NY 11717, 631-756-3300; Riverside station, 234 Riverleigh Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11901, 631-208-9002; Fishers Island station, P.O. Box 271, Fishers Island, NY 06390, 631-788-7600.
• County Park Police: 631-854-1422. County Police Marine Bureau: 631-854-8380.
• University police at SUNY Stony Brook and SUNY Farmingdale, and MTA Police also make arrests. Ask the Sheriff's Office to connect you.

County police precincts (front desks)

• 1st Precinct, West Babylon, covering the Town of Babylon: 631-854-8100
• 2nd Precinct, Huntington: 631-854-8200
• 3rd Precinct, Bay Shore: 631-854-8300
• 4th Precinct, Smithtown: 631-854-8400
• 5th Precinct, Patchogue: 631-854-8500
• 6th Precinct, Selden: 631-854-8600
• 7th Precinct, Shirley: 631-852-8700

East End town police

• East Hampton Town Police, 131 Wainscott Northwest Road, Wainscott, NY 11975, 631-537-7575
• Riverhead Town Police, 210 Howell Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11901, 631-727-4500
• Shelter Island Town Police, 44 North Ferry Road, Shelter Island, NY 11964, 631-749-0600
• Southampton Town Police, 110 Old Riverhead Road, Hampton Bays, NY 11946, 631-728-5000
• Southold Town Police, reached through Town Hall, 53095 Main Road, Southold, NY 11971, 631-765-1800

Village police departments, A to Z

• East Hampton Village Police: 631-324-0777
• Sag Harbor Village Police: 631-725-0058
• Westhampton Beach Village Police, 165 Mill Road, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978, 631-702-1520
• Amityville, Asharoken, Huntington Bay, Lloyd Harbor, Nissequogue, Northport, Ocean Beach, Quogue and Southampton Village also run their own police. Call the Sheriff's Office for their desk numbers.

Other villages, such as Babylon, Bellport, Lindenhurst, Patchogue and Port Jefferson, are patrolled by outside agencies. For an arrest there, call the county police non-emergency line to learn which unit handled it.