Suffolk County Busted Mugshots
Suffolk County arrest records and busted mugshots are held by the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office at 100 Center Drive South in Riverhead. The county does not offer an online inmate directory. To look up an inmate or get arrest record data, you need to call or visit in person. Suffolk County operates two jail facilities and serves the eastern half of Long Island, making it one of the largest counties in New York by area and population.
Suffolk County Arrest Records at a Glance
Suffolk County Sheriff Arrest Records
The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office is at 100 Center Drive South, Riverhead, NY 11901. The main phone number is (631) 852-2200. The sheriff handles corrections, civil enforcement, and public safety for the county. Suffolk County has over 1.5 million people, which means a high volume of arrests and bookings move through the system every year.
There is no online inmate search tool for Suffolk County. That is a notable gap for a county this size. To check if someone is in custody, you have to call the sheriff's office or visit one of the two jail facilities. You need the person's full name and year of birth. A booking number or ID number helps if you have one. The staff can tell you if someone is currently held and what the charges are.
The lack of an online tool means more legwork for anyone trying to find arrest records. Phone calls during business hours are the fastest option. After hours, the jail facilities have staff who can answer basic questions about current inmates. For detailed records or copies of booking documents, a written FOIL request is necessary.
Suffolk County Jail Facilities and Busted Mugshots
Suffolk County runs two jail facilities. The main facility is in Riverhead at 100 Center Drive South. The second is in Yaphank at 200 Glover Drive. Between them, these facilities hold pre-trial detainees and sentenced inmates serving up to one year. Each person booked into either facility gets a mugshot taken and a record created.
The screenshot above shows the Suffolk County inmate lookup information page. The county does not have a searchable online database, so phone and in-person inquiries are the primary methods for checking inmate status.
The Riverhead facility is the larger of the two. Most new bookings go through Riverhead. Yaphank handles overflow and certain classifications of inmates. If you are looking for someone and don't know which facility they are in, call the main number at (631) 852-2200. They can check both locations.
Booking records from both facilities are part of the sheriff's office records system. A FOIL request to the sheriff covers records from either jail. You do not need to file separate requests for each facility. Just describe what you need in your request letter.
How to Get Suffolk County Arrest Records
Under New York's Freedom of Information Law, anyone can request records from the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office. FOIL covers arrest records, booking data, mugshots, and other government documents. There is no special form. Write a letter or email to the Records Access Officer. Say what records you want. Be as specific as you can.
The agency must respond within five business days. They can approve, deny, or request more time. If they need extra time, they can take up to 20 additional business days. Copies cost $0.25 per page. For a county that processes as many bookings as Suffolk does, your request could return a lot of pages. Ask about costs up front.
Sealed records are not available. Under CPL §160.50, cases that end in dismissal or acquittal get sealed automatically. The sheriff's office cannot release any part of a sealed record, including the mugshot. If your request is denied, you can appeal to the agency head and then to the Committee on Open Government.
Suffolk County also has a large district attorney's office that prosecutes criminal cases. The DA's office holds its own records related to cases it handles. Those records are subject to FOIL too, but you file a separate request with the DA's Records Access Officer. It is a different office with its own staff.
State Resources for Suffolk County Busted Mugshots
The DOCCS Incarcerated Individual Lookup covers New York State prisons. If someone arrested in Suffolk County ended up in state prison, you can find them here. Search by name or DIN number. The tool is free and shows facility, sentence details, and release dates.
The WebCrims system tracks criminal court cases statewide. You can search for Suffolk County cases to find charges, case status, and court dates. No mugshots are in this system. But case numbers from WebCrims are useful when filing records requests with the court clerk.
The New York Sex Offender Registry lets you search by county for registered offenders. Suffolk County has a significant number of registered offenders given its population size. The DCJS record review service lets individuals check their own criminal history for $95.
Suffolk County Police Department also handles a large share of arrests on Long Island. The SCPD is separate from the sheriff's office. If you are looking for arrest records from a Suffolk County Police arrest (rather than a sheriff's arrest), contact SCPD directly. Their records are subject to the same FOIL rules.
Suffolk County Court Records
Suffolk County is in the Tenth Judicial District. The county court in Riverhead handles felony cases. District courts handle misdemeanors for the western part of the county. Town courts handle cases in the five eastern towns. This means criminal records are spread across multiple courts depending on where the case was filed and what level of charges were involved.
The Suffolk County Clerk's office holds court records for cases that went through county court. For district court cases, check with the district court clerk. For town court cases, contact the specific town court. It can take some effort to track down the right office if you do not know where the case was heard.
Court records and arrest records serve different purposes but overlap. The arrest record is from booking. The court record follows the case from arraignment to resolution. Both are public unless sealed. Together, they give you the full story of a criminal case in Suffolk County.
Cities and Towns in Suffolk County
Suffolk County has several large towns with their own pages on this site. These towns have local police departments that make arrests, but booking usually goes through the county jail system. Each town listed below has its own arrest records page with more specific information.