Dukes County arrest records live in two separate systems: the court docket maintained by the Clerk’s office at the Dukes County Courthouse on Martha’s Vineyard, and the booking records held by the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office. The Courthouse is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and can be reached at (508) 627-4668. For court dockets, the county-level portal at DC Courts — Dukes County is the county-first resource; the statewide Massachusetts Trial Court docket search covers Superior Court and District Court cases filed in Dukes County as well.
If someone you know was just booked tonight, our Dukes County inmate-search page has phone-first contact info.
If your person has a history in other states
A Dukes County court search only surfaces records filed in Massachusetts — it won’t catch arrests in Rhode Island, Florida, or anywhere else. Run a preliminary nationwide scan through the affiliate tool below to flag records that pre-date the portal’s online window or that were filed in another jurisdiction. The preliminary scan is free; a full background report requires creating an account.
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How to look up arrest records in Dukes County
Dukes County criminal cases can generate up to four distinct record types — a criminal docket entry, a booking record, a charge sheet, and a disposition record — and each one lives in a different system.
The criminal docket is the court-side record. It shows the case number, charges filed, hearing dates, and the final disposition. The county-first place to search it is DC Courts — Dukes County, the official Dukes County court records portal. For Superior Court matters, the statewide Massachusetts Trial Court docket search covers Dukes County Superior Court cases and is linked directly from the Dukes County Superior Court location page on Mass.gov. If you need help navigating the portal, Mass.gov also provides a MassCourts user guide.
The booking record is the Sheriff-side record. It is created when a person is processed into the Dukes County Jail and House of Correction. Booking records are not published in an online roster — direct public records requests to the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office Records Access Officer. The Sheriff’s Office accepts cash, check, or money order for any applicable fees. For contact details and records-request forms, see the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office application document hosted by the Town of Oak Bluffs.
The charge sheet originates with the arresting agency — one of the island’s municipal departments (Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury, West Tisbury, Chilmark, Aquinnah, or Gosnold) or the Massachusetts State Police Dukes County barracks. Charge sheets are not centrally published online; request them directly from the arresting department. The Edgartown Police Department is located at 149 Main St, Edgartown, MA 02539. The Oak Bluffs Police Department is at 2 Oak Bluffs Avenue, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.
The disposition record reflects the final outcome — guilty, not guilty, dismissed, continued without a finding, or nolle prosequi. Dispositions appear on the court docket and are also compiled by the Massachusetts Probation Service into the CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) system. You can request your own CORI through the Massachusetts Trial Court; third-party access is tightly restricted under M.G.L. c. 6, §§ 167–178B.
For any federal charges arising from conduct in Dukes County, the PACER Case Locator covers federal district court filings. PACER requires a free account registration.
A practical note on visiting the Courthouse: a free parking lot sits behind the building, and free street parking is also available nearby. The Courthouse phone is (508) 627-4668; call ahead if you’re unsure which department holds the record you need, as hours vary by department.
Are Dukes County arrest records public?
Massachusetts adopted its current public-records framework decades before the internet made bulk data retrieval trivial, and the law reflects that tension. Court filings are public records under M.G.L. c. 66, § 10 (with c. 4, § 7, cl. 26) — but sealed cases, juvenile records, and victim-protection redactions are the narrow exceptions that remove material from public view.
Juvenile records are the broadest exclusion. Cases heard in the Juvenile Court department are confidential by statute; the public cannot access them, and they do not appear in MassCourts searches. This confidentiality applies regardless of the charge. An adult who was adjudicated as a juvenile in Dukes County will not see that matter surface in a standard court docket search.
Sealed and expunged records are a second category of exclusion. When a Dukes County court grants a petition to seal under M.G.L. c. 276, §§ 100A–100C, the Commissioner of Probation removes the record from public CORI access. Expunged records under §§ 100E–100U are destroyed entirely. Neither appears in a public search after the order takes effect.
Victim-protection redactions apply in cases involving sexual assault, domestic violence, and certain other offenses. Victim names, addresses, and identifying details are routinely withheld from publicly accessible docket entries under court rules and statutory protections.
Booking photos — mugshots — occupy a separate legal space. Massachusetts does not have a statute that broadly mandates public release of booking photos, and the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office does not publish a public mugshot database. For the Sheriff’s current policy on booking photo requests, call the Records Access Officer — the policy isn’t posted online.
What remains public, absent a sealing or expungement order: criminal docket entries for adult cases, case numbers, charge descriptions, hearing dates, and dispositions. Employers and landlords with authorized CORI access can see more than the general public; law enforcement sees the full record regardless of sealing status.
What’s in a Dukes County arrest record?
When you pull records for a single arrest in Dukes County, you may find multiple documents across different systems — a booking entry at the jail, a citation or complaint from the arresting officer, and a court filing at the Courthouse — and they don’t always contain the same fields.
The booking entry, held by the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office, typically includes: the booking date and time, the person’s name and date of birth, the arresting agency, the charges as listed at intake, and the bail or hold status. This is the Sheriff-side record. It reflects what happened at the jail, not what the court ultimately decided.
The court docket entry, accessible through DC Courts — Dukes County or the statewide Massachusetts Trial Court docket search, contains the case number, the formal charges as filed by the prosecutor, all scheduled and completed hearing dates, the attorney of record (defense and prosecution), and the disposition. The disposition field is the most important for background-check purposes — it shows whether the matter ended in a conviction, a dismissal, a not-guilty finding, or another outcome.
The citation or criminal complaint originates with the arresting officer or department. In Dukes County, that could be the Edgartown Police Department at 149 Main St, the Oak Bluffs Police Department at 2 Oak Bluffs Avenue, or one of the other island municipal departments. The complaint describes the specific statutory violations alleged and is the document that initiates the court case. It is filed with the Dukes County Courthouse and becomes part of the court record.
One important distinction: the charges on the booking entry and the charges on the court docket may differ. Prosecutors can add, drop, or modify charges after the initial arrest. A background check that pulls only the booking record may show charges that were never prosecuted. The court docket at the Dukes County Courthouse is the authoritative source for what was actually adjudicated.
For federal matters, the PACER Case Locator covers any federal charges arising from conduct in Dukes County, with its own separate case number format and docket structure distinct from the state system.
How to expunge an arrest record in Dukes County
Petition to seal or expunge a Dukes County arrest record at the court where the matter was adjudicated — for most criminal cases, that is the Dukes County District Court or Superior Court, both located at the Dukes County Courthouse on Martha’s Vineyard.
Massachusetts offers two distinct forms of relief under M.G.L. c. 276, §§ 100E–100U. Sealing hides the record from public CORI access but does not destroy it — law enforcement retains visibility. Expungement permanently destroys the record. Expungement is the narrower remedy; sealing is available to more people.
Non-conviction dispositions — dismissals, not-guilty findings, nolle prosequi entries, no-probable-cause findings — carry no waiting period for sealing. If your Dukes County case ended in a dismissal, you can petition to seal it now without waiting. This is one of the most commonly overlooked paths: a dismissed case is not automatically sealed, but it can be sealed on request.
Conviction sealing requires a waiting period measured from the completion of the sentence (the end of incarceration or custody, not just the date of the court’s disposition). For a misdemeanor conviction, the wait is 3 years. For a felony conviction, the wait is 7 years. Sex offenses carry a 15-year wait. There is no fee to file a petition to seal in Massachusetts.
Expungement eligibility under §§ 100E–100U is narrower. The offense must have occurred before the petitioner’s 21st birthday. The same 3-year misdemeanor and 7-year felony waiting periods apply. The petitioner may have no more than two records total. Serious offense categories are excluded: offenses causing death or serious bodily injury, sex offenses, firearms violations, OUI, restraining-order violations, and domestic assault.
To petition, obtain the Petition to Seal form from the Clerk’s office at the Dukes County Courthouse, (508) 627-4668, or download it from the Massachusetts Trial Court website. File it at the courthouse where the case was heard. The Commissioner of Probation then effects the order once the court grants it. If you cannot afford an attorney, the Committee for Public Counsel Services provides public defenders and can connect you with legal aid resources. For attorney referrals, use the Massachusetts lawyer referral service.
After sealing, the record disappears from public CORI searches and from most employer background checks. Law enforcement agencies retain access. After expungement, the record is destroyed and does not appear anywhere — including in law enforcement databases.
Quick-contacts decision table
| Resource | What it confirms | What it cannot confirm | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| DC Courts — Dukes County | Criminal docket entries, case numbers, charges filed, dispositions for Dukes County cases | Sealed or expunged records; juvenile cases; booking-side details | Search by name or case number; call (508) 627-4668 if the online result is unclear |
| Massachusetts Trial Court docket search | Superior Court and District Court dockets statewide, including Dukes County Superior Court | Sealed records; juvenile records; booking records | Search by name; use the MassCourts user guide if you need help with case number formats |
| Dukes County Sheriff’s Office Records Access Officer | Booking records, jail intake information, Sheriff-side records | Court dispositions; records from municipal police departments | Submit a written public records request; see the Sheriff’s Office application document for contact details |
| Massachusetts Department of Correction inmate lookup | Current DOC custody status for state prison inmates | County jail (House of Correction) inmates; released individuals; court records | Search by name on the DOC inmate lookup tool; for county jail status, contact the Sheriff’s Office |
| PACER Case Locator | Federal court filings involving Dukes County defendants | State court records; booking records; CORI | Register for a free PACER account; search by name or case number |
| Affiliate nationwide background check | Multi-state arrest history; records predating the online portal window | Real-time court updates; sealed or expunged records | Run a preliminary scan above; full report requires account creation |
- DC Courts — Dukes County Massachusetts — county-official court records portal for criminal docket and felony records searches.
- Massachusetts Trial Court docket search — statewide docket access including Dukes County Superior Court; linked from the Dukes County Superior Court location page on Mass.gov.
- Dukes County Sheriff’s Office application document (hosted by Town of Oak Bluffs) — contact and records-request information for the Sheriff’s Office.
- PACER Case Locator — federal court case lookup for Dukes County federal matters.
- MassCourts user guide — guidance on navigating the Massachusetts Trial Court online docket system.
- Land Court docket search — state-level fallback for Land Court matters.
- the state bar lawyer directory — Massachusetts lawyer referral service for sealing and expungement assistance.
- Committee for Public Counsel Services — public defender and legal aid locator for indigent petitioners.
- Massachusetts Department of Correction inmate lookup — state prison custody status; separate from county jail records.
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Frequently asked questions about Dukes County arrest records
How do I find out what’s on my own Dukes County arrest record?
Your own criminal record in Massachusetts is accessible through the CORI system. You can request your personal CORI through the Massachusetts Trial Court — this gives you the same view an authorized employer would see. For court docket details, search DC Courts — Dukes County by your name or case number, or use the statewide Massachusetts Trial Court docket search. For booking-side records held by the Sheriff, submit a written public records request to the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office Records Access Officer. The Courthouse is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; call (508) 627-4668 with questions about which department holds a specific record.
Can a Dukes County arrest record be sealed or expunged, and how do I start?
Petitioning to seal a Dukes County arrest record is a routine legal procedure available to many people. If your case ended in a dismissal, not-guilty finding, or nolle prosequi, there is no waiting period — you can petition now. Conviction sealing requires 3 years for a misdemeanor or 7 years for a felony, measured from the end of your sentence. Expungement under M.G.L. c. 276, §§ 100E–100U is available for offenses that occurred before age 21, subject to the same waiting periods and eligibility limits. There is no filing fee to petition for sealing. Get the Petition to Seal form from the Clerk’s office at the Dukes County Courthouse, (508) 627-4668, and file it at the court where your case was heard. If you need legal help, the Committee for Public Counsel Services can connect you with free or low-cost representation.
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