Arrest Records for Plymouth County, Massachusetts

Plymouth County criminal records live in two separate systems: the Massachusetts Trial Court’s online docket search and the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office, reachable at (508) 949-3800. Court-side records — charges, case numbers, dispositions — are searchable through the MassCourts docket and case information portal. Felony cases heard at the Superior Court level are indexed through the Plymouth County Superior Court contact and records page; misdemeanor cases route through the Plymouth District Court. Confirm hours and any records-request fees directly with the Clerk’s office before visiting.

If someone you know was just booked tonight, our Plymouth County inmate-search page has phone-first contact info.

If your person has a history in other states

A Plymouth County court search only reaches Massachusetts Trial Court filings — it won’t surface arrests from other states, federal cases, or records that pre-date the portal’s online window. A nationwide criminal background search may help fill gaps that local portals often leave, particularly if the person has lived in multiple states or if you need to verify your own record across every jurisdiction where you’ve resided. The preliminary scan is free; a full report requires creating an account.

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This tool is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA and may not be used to screen anyone for employment, housing, credit, or any other purpose covered by that law.

How to look up arrest records in Plymouth County

What happens when a sealed or expunged record is the one you’re searching for? It won’t appear in any standard search — court portals, Sheriff records requests, and the statewide docket system all suppress sealed and expunged entries from public view. That’s by design under Massachusetts law, and it’s worth knowing before you interpret a “no results” response. If you believe a record exists but isn’t showing up, see the expungement section below for context on what gets hidden and why.

For records that are publicly accessible, the MassCourts docket and case information portal is the most direct path. Search by name or case number across all Trial Court departments statewide. Plymouth County felony cases — indicted matters heard before a jury — are docketed at the Plymouth County Superior Court. Misdemeanor and lower-level criminal matters are handled at the Plymouth District Court. Both courts maintain their own Clerk’s offices; call to confirm current hours and any per-page copy fees before driving to the courthouse.

The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office holds booking records — the Sheriff-side entry created at intake into the Plymouth County Correctional Facility. Call (508) 949-3800 to ask about records-request procedures. The Sheriff’s booking record and the court’s docket entry are separate documents; a booking record confirms an arrest occurred, while the docket entry tracks what happened in court afterward. You may need both to get the full picture.

Municipal police departments across Plymouth County — including departments in Hanover, Brockton, and Plymouth town itself — maintain their own incident and arrest reports. The Hanover Police Department records request page shows a representative example of how individual departments handle these requests. Each municipality sets its own process and fee schedule; contact the arresting department directly for records tied to a specific incident. Confirm numbers and hours before visiting or calling any municipal department.

For someone held in a Massachusetts state prison rather than the county facility, the Massachusetts Department of Correction inmate lookup covers DOC-operated facilities statewide, including Bridgewater State Hospital. That tool is separate from the Plymouth County Sheriff’s booking system and covers a different population.

A practical note: new bookings can take time to appear in online systems after an arrest. If an online search returns nothing for a recent arrest, calling the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office directly at (508) 949-3800 will get you faster confirmation than waiting for a portal to update.

Are Plymouth County arrest records public?

Once a record is expunged under Massachusetts law, it no longer exists as a public document — the physical and electronic record is destroyed, not merely hidden. That distinction matters when you’re interpreting what a search does and doesn’t show you. Court filings that haven’t been sealed or expunged are public records under M.G.L. c. 66, § 10 (with c. 4, § 7, cl. 26), the Massachusetts Public Records Law, and are accessible to anyone who asks.

Massachusetts is among the more privacy-protective states on criminal records. The CORI law — M.G.L. c. 6, §§ 167–178B — restricts who can access a full criminal history and for what purposes. What the general public can see through the MassCourts portal is limited to docket entries: case numbers, charges, and dispositions. Booking photos are not routinely released to the public in Massachusetts; the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office does not publish a public mugshot database. For the Sheriff’s Office’s specific policy on booking photo requests, call (508) 949-3800.

Juvenile records are categorically excluded from public access. Cases adjudicated in the Juvenile Court department of the Massachusetts Trial Court are sealed by statute and do not appear in any public docket search, regardless of the outcome.

Victim-protection redactions apply in certain cases — addresses, contact information, and other identifying details for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and similar offenses are routinely withheld from publicly accessible docket entries. What you see in a MassCourts search may be a redacted version of the full record.

Non-conviction dispositions — dismissals, nolle prosequi entries, not-guilty findings, and no-probable-cause determinations — remain on the public docket unless the defendant has petitioned to seal them. Unlike convictions, non-convictions carry no waiting period for sealing under Massachusetts law, which means many people are eligible to remove them from public view immediately. The process for doing that is covered in the section below.

What’s in a Plymouth County arrest record?

What does a Plymouth County arrest record actually contain — and where do you find each piece? The answer depends on which system generated the record, because the court-side docket and the Sheriff-side booking entry are built for different purposes and contain different fields.

A docket entry at the Plymouth County Courthouse is the court’s official record of a criminal case. It typically shows: the case number (formatted by court department and year), the defendant’s name and date of birth, the charging statute and offense description, the arraignment date, each subsequent court event with its date and outcome, the disposition (guilty, not guilty, dismissed, continued without a finding, etc.), and the attorney of record if one appeared. Docket entries are searchable through the MassCourts docket and case information portal. The Plymouth County Superior Court handles felony indictments; the Plymouth District Court handles misdemeanors and lower-level felonies at the complaint stage.

A booking entry at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility is the Sheriff’s record of an arrest and intake. It captures: the booking date and time, the arresting agency, the charges as listed at booking (which may differ from what the court ultimately charges), physical descriptors, and the assigned facility housing unit. Booking entries live in the Sheriff’s system, not the court’s. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office at (508) 949-3800 can tell you what’s available and how to request it. A booking entry can exist even when no court case was ever filed — if charges were dropped before arraignment, the Sheriff’s record may still show the arrest.

Municipal police incident reports are a third category. These are generated by the arresting department — Plymouth Police, Brockton Police, Hanover Police, or any of the other municipal departments in the county — and contain the narrative of the arrest, witness statements, and officer observations. They are not part of the court docket and are not searchable online. The Brockton Trial Court can be reached at (508) 747-8566 (verify before calling) for questions about cases in that jurisdiction. Municipal departments handle their own incident report requests separately.

One practical distinction worth noting: the charges listed in a booking entry often reflect what the arresting officer alleged at the time of arrest. By the time a case reaches arraignment at the Plymouth County Courthouse, the prosecutor may have amended, reduced, or dropped some charges. Always check the court docket for the final disposition — the booking entry alone doesn’t tell you how the case ended.

How to expunge an arrest record in Plymouth County

Non-conviction dispositions — a dismissal, a not-guilty verdict, a nolle prosequi — are the most straightforward cases for record relief in Massachusetts. A person whose Plymouth County case ended without a conviction can petition to seal that record without any waiting period. The petition goes to the court where the matter was adjudicated: the Plymouth District Court for misdemeanor-level cases, the Plymouth County Superior Court for indicted felonies. The Commissioner of Probation then effects the sealing order once the court approves it.

Post-conviction sealing works differently. Under M.G.L. c. 276, §§ 100E-100U, a person with a misdemeanor conviction must wait 3 years from the completion of their sentence before petitioning to seal. A felony conviction requires a 7-year wait from the same point. Sex offenses carry a 15-year waiting period. “Completion of sentence” means the end of any incarceration or custody, not just the date of the court’s disposition — so the clock starts later than many people expect.

Expungement under the same statute is narrower than sealing. It permanently destroys the record rather than hiding it. To qualify, the offense must have occurred before the petitioner’s 21st birthday, the same 3-year (misdemeanor) or 7-year (felony) waiting period applies, and the petitioner may have no more than two records total. Serious offense categories are excluded entirely: offenses causing death or serious bodily injury, sex offenses, firearms violations, OUI, restraining-order violations, and domestic assault. If an offense falls into one of those categories, expungement is not available regardless of age or waiting period.

Petitioning to seal a Plymouth County arrest record is a routine legal procedure. Many people do it without an attorney, using the Petition to Seal form available through the Massachusetts Trial Court. There is no filing fee to request sealing. If you cannot afford an attorney and want one, the Committee for Public Counsel Services can connect you with a public defender or assigned counsel for certain proceedings. The Massachusetts lawyer referral service is another option for finding private counsel.

After a record is sealed, the public — including anyone running a standard background check — cannot see it. Law enforcement retains access. A sealed record does not disappear from the Plymouth County Sheriff’s booking system or from law enforcement databases; it disappears from public court dockets and from CORI responses to employers and landlords. Expungement goes further: the record is physically and electronically destroyed, and even law enforcement access is eliminated.

Dismissed or acquitted cases deserve particular attention. Because no waiting period applies to non-convictions, a person whose Plymouth County case was dismissed — even recently — can file a petition to seal immediately. The Plymouth District Court Clerk’s office can provide the correct form and explain the filing process. Call the courthouse to confirm current procedures before submitting paperwork.

Quick-contacts table

Frequently asked questions about Plymouth County arrest records

Where do I find out what’s on my own Plymouth County arrest record?

Your own criminal record in Massachusetts is called a CORI — Criminal Offender Record Information. You can request your own CORI through the Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS), which gives you the most complete view of what’s on file statewide, including Plymouth County cases. For the specific docket entries tied to a Plymouth County case, the MassCourts docket and case information portal shows publicly accessible court records by name. If a case was sealed or expunged, it won’t appear in a public docket search — but it will still appear in your own CORI request. The Plymouth County Superior Court and Plymouth District Court Clerk’s offices can also provide certified copies of docket entries for cases in their respective courts.

How long does it take before I can seal or expunge a Plymouth County arrest record?

For a non-conviction — a dismissal, not-guilty verdict, or nolle prosequi — there is no waiting period under Massachusetts law. You can petition to seal immediately after the case closes. For a misdemeanor conviction, the wait is 3 years from the end of your sentence. For a felony conviction, it’s 7 years from the same point. Expungement under M.G.L. c. 276, §§ 100E-100U applies only to offenses committed before age 21 and has the same 3- or 7-year windows, with additional eligibility limits. The petition is filed at the court where the Plymouth County case was adjudicated — Plymouth District Court for misdemeanors, Plymouth County Superior Court for indicted felonies. There is no filing fee for a sealing petition.