A quick phone call settles it. Work through these steps:

1. Jot down the person's legal first and last name, the birth date, and roughly where the arrest took place.
2. Glance at the Sheriff's jail lookup link for anything recent.
3. Phone the jail at 518-746-2476.
4. Ask if a booking happened, which counts are listed, whether a judge fixed bail, and when the person returns to court.
5. Write down the person's facility ID number. The lobby money kiosk asks for it, and staff find records faster with it.

The jail books both men and women. It opened in 2003, replacing an 1800s lockup in Salem, and has room for up to 179 people.

A "not here" answer usually has a simple cause:

• Still in the arrest process. Paperwork at the police station or barracks comes before booking.
• Already sent home. Under state rules, a judge frees almost everyone facing a lesser charge right at arraignment, often within hours.
• Never jailed. Many get an appearance ticket and leave with a court date instead.
• Held elsewhere. An arrest just over the county line puts the person in that county's jail.
• Under 18. Teens go to a juvenile detention center, never this jail.
• A spelling problem. Try middle names, maiden names and nicknames.

Next, ring Sheriff's dispatch at 518-747-4623 and ask which agency made the arrest. You can also try the statewide VINELink search.

Adults charged in Fort Edward's home county normally sit in that one jail. When police make an arrest past the border instead, try the next-door jails, each run by its own sheriff:

• Warren County Correctional Facility, 1400 State Route 9, Lake George, NY 12845, 518-743-2500
• Saratoga County Correctional Facility, 6010 County Farm Road, Ballston Spa, NY 12020, 518-885-2480
• Rensselaer County Correctional Facility, 4000 Main Street, Troy, NY 12180, 518-266-1900
• Essex County Jail, 702 Stowersville Road, Lewis, NY 12950, 518-873-6970

Each of those jails can confirm custody by phone with a name and birth date.

New York treats booking photos as private. Under Public Officers Law § 89(2)(b)(viii), the law says giving one out wrongly invades a person's privacy, except when police release it for a real law enforcement need. A reporter or relative with a good reason may still ask the Sheriff's Office at 399 Broadway, Fort Edward, NY 12828, 518-746-2477.

So families should expect to learn custody facts by phone, not from a picture. The jail line, 518-746-2476, handles questions about who is booked.

New York runs a victim alert system called VINE. Ask the jail whether its releases show up there before you count on it.

• Search by name on VINELink.
• To sign up by phone, dial 888-846-3469. For someone in a state prison, the DOCCS page says to pick option 2.
• For state prison releases, parole dates and parole officers, DOCCS runs its own Victim Notification form.

Alerts can lag behind real life, so call the jail at 518-746-2476 before you drive to pick someone up.

Since 2020, New York judges must let most people leave after arraignment. A person accused of an ordinary misdemeanor, or a felony with no violence, goes free on a promise to return, sometimes with rules to follow. Cash bail, or remand with no bail allowed, is reserved for so-called "qualifying offenses," which include violent felonies (CPL 510.10(4)). If a judge does set a dollar figure, the order must offer a menu of payment styles, and the menu has to include at least one unsecured or partially secured bond option (CPL 520.10).

At the jail, bail is taken at 399 Broadway, Fort Edward, NY 12828. Bring exact cash, use a credit card in person for a fee, or pay online through the service named on the Sheriff's money page. A photo ID is required. Call 518-746-2476 first. Our bail page covers amounts, bond agents and refunds.

Jail staff can read you the charges when you call. The written accusation is called a complaint, or an indictment once a grand jury acts. A few plain terms help:

• Felony: the top tier, with five classes lettered A through E. A conviction can lead to state prison.
• Misdemeanor: the middle tier, class A or B. The longest local sentence is 364 days.
• Violation: not a crime at all, like most traffic tickets, with 15 days at most.

Every state law, including the Penal Law, can be read free on the State Senate's law site. Prosecutors pick which counts move forward. Their office is at 383 Broadway, Building C, Fort Edward, NY 12828, 518-746-2525.

A defense lawyer is present at arraignment, including the jail-lobby sessions, and anyone who can't pay gets one assigned. Under state guidelines, being locked up by itself is a strong sign a person qualifies.

• Public Defender: 383 Broadway, Fort Edward, NY 12828, 518-746-2200.
• Assigned Counsel Office (conflict cases): Building C basement, 383 Broadway, Fort Edward, NY 12828. Applications are taken weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Reach it through the county operator at 518-746-2100.

Families may hire a private lawyer instead. Legal mail from a lawyer is opened only with the person present (9 NYCRR 7004.4).

The jail schedules visitors on weekdays alone, in three one-hour blocks: 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., and 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Each person gets two visits a week.

• Booking: schedule online from the day before up to 14 days ahead. The jail recommends the online form.
• Group size: up to two visitors, plus a child small enough to sit on a lap.
• ID: a driver's license, military ID, passport, Social Services benefit card, immigration card or DMV ID card.
• Minors: bring a birth certificate and come with a parent or guardian, or an adult carrying a notarized letter from one.
• Timing: arrive 15 minutes early. Late arrivals are turned away, and after check-in you must stay in the lobby.
• Dress: no sleeveless tops, short shorts or skirts, low-cut or see-through tops, jackets, coats or hoods.
• Leave behind: belts, watches, jewelry, wallets, money, candy, gum and other personal items.

Passing anything during a visit ends it. Contraband can also bring charges and a ban on future visits. For general visiting advice, open our visitation tips.

The jail's lobby kiosk at 399 Broadway, Fort Edward, NY 12828 accepts cash and credit or debit cards. For a cash deposit, enter the facility ID number, or the full name and date of birth. A card's billing address must match a valid driver's license, and the kiosk company adds fees.

• Money orders come by mail only, never at the lobby. They sit on a five-day hold before the person can spend them. Ask the jail at 518-746-2476 for the right address and payee.
• Commissary orders from family go through an online commissary service. Its phone line is 866-394-0490.
• Tablet and messaging accounts are funded online through the jail's tablet provider.

Never mail cash. More on deposits sits in our inmate money page, and snack and supply orders are covered on our commissary page.

New arrivals may use the phone during intake, and officers must explain that right to them (9 NYCRR 7002.8). Later calls come out of a paid phone account.

• To set up or fund an account for calls, use the inmate phone account line, 866-230-7761.
• Tablets and electronic messages work through paid accounts that friends and family fund online.
• Ask the jail at 518-746-2476 about current rates and limits.

Treat every regular call or message as something a guard might hear or read, and save case details for conversations with the defense attorney. See our phone guide and inmate messaging guide for more.

The jail's street address is 399 Broadway, Fort Edward, NY 12828. Before sending anything, call 518-746-2476 to confirm how to address it and whether to add the facility ID number.

• Letters: state rules don't limit how many letters a person writes or receives. Officers can open personal envelopes to check for banned items (9 NYCRR 7004).
• Books and magazines: they must ship straight from a retailer or publisher. Hardcovers and drop-offs are refused.
• Clothes: only new white basics in sealed packages, such as T-shirts, underwear, socks, thermals and sports bras. The jail's two web pages list different amounts and methods, so ask first.
• Religious items: worth $40 or less, such as a short chain, a small medallion, a prayer rug, a kufi or beads.

Our mail guide has tips on letters and photos.

Whatever officers bagged up during booking waits at the jail for the owner. Call 518-746-2476 on a weekday to ask when you can collect it at 399 Broadway, Fort Edward, NY 12828, and whether the owner must sign a form first. Bring a photo ID. Ask too how leftover money on the person's account will be paid back.

Official Sheriff's forms are handed out at the Law Enforcement Center. The website copies are for reference only.

Officers keeping someone locked up are responsible for that prisoner's physical and mental health care. If neglect of those needs leads to serious harm, the injured person can sue (Civil Rights Law § 28).

• Call the jail at 518-746-2476 right away about illness, injury or medicine. Give the drug name, dose and the prescribing doctor.
• In an emergency outside the jail, call 911.
• Complaints about jail conditions go to the New York State Commission of Correction, 80 S. Swan Street, Albany, NY 12210, 518-485-2346.

Deputies handle most warrant arrests, with village officers serving them inside village lines. See the Sheriff's warrant information page and the New York State Police wanted list. The Sheriff updates its list during the work week and says only officers can make an arrest. To confirm a warrant, phone dispatch at 518-747-4623, or ring the clerk's office at the court you think issued it. Clearing one means going back to that court, ideally with a lawyer beside you. For felony warrants, the Chief Clerk's Office is at 383 Broadway, Building C, Fort Edward, NY 12828, 518-480-6920.

Right after arrest, the first appearance usually happens in the jail lobby, where the county runs arraignment sessions. After that, the case returns to the town or village court where it started, and most of those courts sit one night or morning a week.

• Felony dates after indictment: Chief Clerk's Office, 383 Broadway, Building C, Fort Edward, NY 12828, 518-480-6920.
• Local court dates: the jail at 518-746-2476 can name the court and its phone.
• The statewide WebCrims search shows open cases with an upcoming date in the courts it covers, mostly downstate.

Our court guide lists every local justice court with its session nights.

A federal arrest in this area lands at the Albany federal courthouse, 445 Broadway, Albany, NY 12207, 518-257-1789. At that first hearing a magistrate decides whether the defendant waits for trial behind bars or at home (18 U.S.C. 3142).

1. Until the case ends, the Marshals Service is responsible for federal defendants held before trial, and most are boarded at a county jail under contract. Ask its Albany office, 445 Broadway, 2nd Floor, Albany, NY 12207, 518-472-5401.
2. One nearby jail, the Rensselaer County Correctional Facility, has had an agreement with the Marshals to hold federal prisoners.
3. To read filings, open PACER, the federal courts' document site.
4. If the sentence includes prison time, the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows where the person is sent.

Here is the usual order of events when immigration officers want someone held:

1. Immigration agents send the jail a detainer, Form I-247A.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), the request is to hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. ICE officers pick the person up. People held upstate may be moved on to Batavia, where ICE runs its Buffalo processing site at 4250 Federal Drive, Batavia, NY 14020, 585-344-6500. That number gives detainee information from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and detainees there can't take incoming calls.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator with the A-number, or the name and birth country.

New York limits local help. In People ex rel. Wells v DeMarco (2018), a state appeals court said sheriffs and police here lack authority under New York law to make civil immigration arrests. Executive Law § 170-k voided every local 287(g) deal, effective August 25, 2026. Civil Rights Law § 28 protects anyone attending court, or traveling there and back, from civil arrest without a court-issued warrant or order.

Long felony terms, those topping twelve months, belong to the state system. The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) collects the person, usually within ten business days after the county says they are ready.

• Search the DOCCS Incarcerated Lookup. The DIN works best. Without it, enter the precise surname and birth year.
• The lookup goes offline nightly around 11:45 p.m. and late Saturday night.
• No internet? Call DOCCS on weekdays at 518-457-5000.
• Our guide to New York's state prisons explains visits and letters for every facility.

Not to the adult jail. If a teen must stay locked up, the stay is at a state-certified juvenile detention center. The state keeps a list of secure detention centers.

• Officers have to reach a parent as soon as a youth is in custody, and say where any questioning will happen.
• A detained child goes before Family Court within 72 hours, or sooner if court is in session (Family Court Act § 307.3).
• Felony charges for ages 16 and 17 start in the Youth Part; misdemeanors go to probation intake.

County Probation can say where a youth is: 518-746-2260.

Roughly 59,353 residents lived here on July 1, 2025, the Census Bureau estimates. There is no city, so most patrol work falls to deputies and state troopers.

• Sheriff's Office (road patrol for every town, plus the county seat's village): Law Enforcement Center, 399 Broadway, Fort Edward, NY 12828. Non-emergency dispatch 518-747-4623; main office 518-746-2477.
• Cambridge-Greenwich Police Department (villages of Cambridge and Greenwich): Cambridge Police Station, 56 North Park Street, Cambridge, NY 12816, 518-677-3044. Alternative number for the Greenwich side: 518-692-9332.
• Granville Police Department (village): 518-642-1414.
• Hudson Falls Police Department (village): 518-747-4011.
• Whitehall Police Department (village): 518-499-1316.
• State Police, Troop G, Granville station: Route 40, P.O. Box 130, North Granville, NY 12854, 518-642-9455.
• State Police, Troop G, Greenwich station: 3331 State Route 29, Greenwich, NY 12834, 518-692-3001.
• State Environmental Conservation officers: 800-457-7362.

The remaining towns lean on deputies and troopers for patrol. To learn who handled a call in one of them, phone Sheriff's dispatch:

• North: Dresden, Fort Ann, Kingsbury, Putnam and Whitehall outside the village.
• Middle: Argyle, the town of Fort Edward, Hartford, Hebron, Granville outside the village and Hampton.
• South: Cambridge outside the village, Easton, Greenwich outside the village, Jackson, Salem and White Creek.