Search Taunton Booking Reports
Taunton booking reports are filed by the Taunton Police Department and the Bristol County Sheriff's Office. The city is the county seat of Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts, and local arrests generate booking records at the police station on Summer Street. People held before a court appearance go to the Bristol County jail in Dartmouth, where a second booking record gets created. You can look up Taunton booking reports through a public records request, the Bristol County arrest records database, or the state iCORI system run by DCJIS.
Taunton Overview
Taunton Police Booking Reports
The Taunton Police Department handles most arrests and bookings in the city. When someone is arrested in Taunton, the booking happens at TPD headquarters on Summer Street. The booking report captures the person's name, date of birth, charges, arrest time, and the officer who made the arrest. It also has a physical description, any aliases, and bail information set during intake.
To get a copy of a Taunton booking report, you submit a public records request to the police department. You can do this by mail, by email, or in person at the station. Include the name of the person, the arrest date if you have it, and your contact info. Under M.G.L. c. 66, sect. 10, TPD has 10 business days to respond. The first two hours of staff time are free for Taunton since the city has more than 20,000 residents. Paper copies cost $0.05 per page. Electronic copies are free when the department already has them in digital form. Most single-record requests stay well under the free time limit, so many people pay nothing beyond the copy fee.
| Department | Taunton Police Department |
|---|---|
| Address | 23 Summer Street Taunton, MA 02780 |
| Phone | (508) 823-5000 |
| Hours | Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM |
You can also walk in to the records division during business hours. Bring a valid photo ID. Staff can look up cases by name or date and make copies while you wait. Calling ahead helps, especially if you need records from more than a few years back.
Note: Taunton PD keeps booking sheets for at least 10 years and fingerprint cards permanently under state retention rules.
Taunton Arrest Logs
Every police department in Massachusetts must keep a daily log under M.G.L. c. 41, sect. 98F. Taunton PD is no different. The log shows all arrests made, crimes reported, and responses to complaints. It is a public record and free to view.
The daily log is a quick first step when you are trying to find out if someone was booked in Taunton. It will not have the full booking report. What it does show is the name, the charges, the time and date, and the general location. That is enough to confirm an arrest happened before you put in a formal records request for the full booking details. Most people use it as a starting point. You can view the log at the police station during normal hours, and the department cannot charge you a fee for looking at it.
Some departments in Bristol County post arrest logs online. Whether Taunton PD has a current online option varies, so call the records division at (508) 823-5000 to ask about the easiest way to check recent entries.
Bristol County Booking Records for Taunton
Taunton is the county seat of Bristol County. When someone arrested in Taunton gets held before a court date, they go to the Bristol County jail in Dartmouth. That jail booking creates a separate record from the one at Taunton PD. For a complete picture of someone's booking history, you may need records from both the city and the county.
The Bristol County Sheriff's Office is at 400 Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth. The phone number is (508) 995-6400. The sheriff runs the county jail and keeps all booking data for people held in the facility. You can call to ask about a specific person or send a written request. The sheriff's office maintains an inmate lookup system for people currently in custody. It shows names, booking dates, charges, and custody status.
State Systems for Taunton Booking Data
Massachusetts runs several state-level databases that include Taunton booking information. The biggest is the CORI system managed by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services. DCJIS collects criminal history data from every law enforcement agency in the state, and that includes Taunton PD. When a booking happens in Taunton, the data feeds into the central state repository.
The iCORI portal is the online tool for looking up criminal records. A personal request costs $25. An open access request is $50. You need a government-issued ID to register, and results can take up to 10 business days. The system runs name-based searches. Under M.G.L. c. 6, sections 167 through 178B, DCJIS sets the rules on who can see what level of detail. The general public gets a more limited view than law enforcement or certain employers.
The Massachusetts State Police page has information about statewide law enforcement and criminal investigations that may overlap with Taunton cases.
State Police investigations sometimes lead to arrests in Taunton, and those booking reports flow through the same county and state systems.
Note: iCORI results may not include sealed or expunged Taunton booking records, even if you know an arrest took place.
Taunton District Court Records
After someone is booked in Taunton, the criminal case moves to Taunton District Court. Court records are separate from booking reports, but they pick up where the booking leaves off. A court docket shows charges, hearing dates, plea entries, and outcomes. If you want to know what happened after the arrest, the court file tells that part.
You can search Taunton court cases through MassCourts, the state electronic case access system. No registration is needed. Search by name or case number and you will see docket entries, scheduled hearings, and charges. The system covers all trial courts in the state, so Taunton District Court cases show up alongside everything else. It does not have the original booking report, but it connects to the same arrest.
More serious cases from Taunton go to Bristol Superior Court in New Bedford at 441 County Street. The phone there is (508) 996-2051. Felony cases that start at the district level can get transferred up to superior court, and the MassCourts system tracks both.
Sealed Booking Records in Taunton
Not every Taunton booking report stays public. Under M.G.L. c. 276, sections 100A through 100U, people can petition to seal their criminal records. If a court grants the petition, the booking report and all related records get removed from public access. They still exist in the system, but only law enforcement and certain authorized parties can see them.
Misdemeanors can be sealed three years after the case ends. Felonies take seven years. You file the petition at the court where your case was heard. For most Taunton cases, that means Taunton District Court. Once the records are sealed, they will not come up in a CORI search or a standard public records request to the police department. This is why a search might turn up nothing even when you are sure an arrest took place in Taunton. Expungement goes further and deletes the record entirely, but it only applies in narrow situations defined by state law.
Taunton Booking Report Fees
Fees for booking reports in Taunton follow state guidelines. The cost structure is the same across all Massachusetts cities with more than 20,000 people.
- Paper copies from Taunton PD: $0.05 per page
- Electronic copies: free when available
- Research time: first 2 hours free, then $25/hour max
- Personal iCORI: $25
- Open access iCORI: $50
- Bristol County arrest records search: varies
If Taunton PD denies your records request or charges what you think is too much, you can appeal to the Supervisor of Records at the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Public Records Division. The appeal costs nothing. The office will review the denial and decide if it was proper under state law. The Open Government Guide from the Reporters Committee has details on your rights when requesting booking reports and other public records in Massachusetts.
How Long Taunton Keeps Booking Records
State retention rules set minimum timelines for how long police departments hold booking records. Taunton PD follows these same rules. Booking sheets must be kept for at least 10 years. Fingerprint cards are permanent. Daily police logs stay on file for a minimum of one year. Electronic booking data is kept indefinitely in most systems since storage costs are low and there is no legal requirement to delete it.
For older Taunton booking records, the police department may have them in storage rather than in active files. Requests for records more than a few years old sometimes take longer because staff need to pull them from an archive. Arrest reports tied to serious felonies are kept permanently. If you need a Taunton booking report from many years ago, call the records division first to ask whether it is still on file and how long it will take to retrieve.
Note: Bristol County retention schedules may differ slightly from Taunton PD's, so check with the sheriff's office if you need older county booking records.
Nearby Cities with Booking Reports
Several cities near Taunton have their own police departments and booking report processes. If the arrest you are looking for happened outside Taunton city limits, you need to contact that city's police or check the relevant county records.
Cities near Taunton with pages on this site include Brockton, Fall River, and New Bedford. Fall River and New Bedford are also in Bristol County, so jail bookings for all three cities go through the same Bristol County Sheriff's Office in Dartmouth. Brockton is in Plymouth County and has its own sheriff and jail system. The source of the booking report depends on where the arrest happened and where the person was held.
Bristol County Booking Reports
Taunton is the county seat of Bristol County, and jail bookings go through the Bristol County Sheriff's Office in Dartmouth. The county system handles cases from Taunton, Fall River, New Bedford, and other Bristol County communities. For more on the county records system, sheriff contact info, and related resources, visit the Bristol County booking reports page.