Dukes County Jail Overview
The Dukes County Sheriff's Office jail page identifies the facility as the Jail, Regional Lock-Up and House of Correction. It is operated by the Dukes County Sheriff's Office and serves all six Martha's Vineyard towns. The jail is a local county facility, not a Massachusetts Department of Correction prison. It holds male detainees awaiting trial, county-sentenced inmates serving terms up to 2.5 years, and people held through the regional lock-up function before court or transfer.
The local role matters for any Dukes County inmate search. A person booked after an island arrest may be held at the sheriff's facility before arraignment at nearby Edgartown District Court. A person sentenced to a longer state-prison term is searched through the Massachusetts DOC and VINELink path after commitment. Federal sentenced inmates use the Bureau of Prisons locator, and immigration detainees use ICE's Online Detainee Locator System. No separate city jail, state prison, BOP institution, or ICE detention facility was found in official Dukes County sources.
The official jail page states that the facility is on Upper Main Street in Edgartown and less than one mile from Edgartown District Court. Mass.gov and the sheriff's directory list the jail at 149 Main Street, with P.O. Box 252 used for mailing. The same sheriff source says deputies maintain custody, care, and control of the jail and house of correction, transport people in custody to courts and other facilities, and perform medical intake for every pretrial detainee and inmate placed in sheriff custody.
The official jail page is the best visual source for the facility's local role.
The screenshot reflects the sheriff's description of the jail, regional lock-up, programs, and local custody duties that shape a Dukes County jail lookup.
Dukes County Jail Population
Capacity and population figures for Dukes County Jail and House of Correction must be read by source, because official materials use more than one capacity concept. The sheriff's jail page says the facility houses a maximum of 40 male detainees awaiting trial and inmates serving sentences up to 2.5 years. The Massachusetts Sheriffs' Association operational-capacity report for July 1 through Dec. 31, 2025 lists Dukes as one building with 50 design-capacity housing-unit beds and an average population count of 14.
The 2025 operational-capacity report breaks those beds into occupied maximum housing, maximum housing dormitory, medium sentenced housing, and unoccupied pre-release, lockup, and holding-cell categories. A separate 2024 PREA regional lock-up audit listed the lock-up function with designed capacity of 20 and average daily population of 2 over the prior 12 months. That PREA audit covers the regional lock-up component, while the sheriff's 40-person maximum and MSA's 50 design-capacity beds describe different jail and housing-unit views.
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sheriff-stated jail maximum | 40 male detainees | DCSO jail page |
| Operational design capacity | 50 beds in 1 building | MSA July-Dec. 2025 report |
| Average population count | 14 | MSA July-Dec. 2025 report |
| Inspection snapshot | 16 inmates | DPH inspection on Dec. 18, 2025 |
| December 2025 ADP | 17.71 total average custody population | MSA ADP report |
Look Up Dukes County Jail Custody
No official Dukes County online inmate roster, public current-inmate list, recent-booking feed, or mugshot gallery was located in the sheriff, Mass.gov, or county sources reviewed for this build. The search route is therefore a fallback chain, not a roster search box. For current county-jail custody, the first practical contact is the Dukes County Jail and House of Correction control desk at 508-627-5173. For a written record, use the sheriff's public-records process through the Records Access Officer.
- Call the jail control desk at 508-627-5173 for a current custody question, visit-registration issue, or urgent routing question.
- For a written booking record, send a reasonably specific request to Special Sheriff Kayla Pachico, Records Access Officer, at the DCSO public-records request channel.
- Use the person's full name, approximate booking or arrest date, arresting agency if known, and the record sought, such as booking sheet, custody status, release date, or booking photograph.
- For charges filed after arraignment, use MassCourts and the Edgartown District Court or Dukes County Superior Court clerk path rather than asking the jail for court docket documents.
- For state-prison custody after commitment, use Massachusetts DOC inmate lookup guidance, which points users to VINELink or phone assistance for DOC facilities.
Note: Massachusetts VINE participation is limited, and no official source confirmed Dukes County jail participation.
Dukes County Jail Contact
The jail control desk is the contact point published for the jail and house of correction. The same phone number appears in the sheriff's directory, visitor materials, and Mass.gov location listing. Official sources did not publish general lobby hours, visitor parking instructions, or a public online custody portal. Call before traveling, especially because visitor forms are returned to the Control Room at the Pine Street entrance and entry instructions can change.
Dukes County Jail and House of Correction
149 Main Street
P.O. Box 252
Edgartown, MA 02539
508-627-5173
Jail and House of Correction control desk; call to confirm current custody and visitor instructions.
DCSO Records Access Officer
Special Sheriff Kayla Pachico
P.O. Box 252
Edgartown, MA 02539
508-627-5173
Fax: 508-627-8496
Email: records@dcsoma.org
Visit Dukes County Jail Inmates
DCSO visitor materials require visitors to register with a visits officer at least 24 hours before the allotted visit time. Registration uses the official Visit Request Form, which must be returned to the Jail's Control Room at the Pine Street entrance. AA and AlAnon meeting attendees must submit registration at least one week before the first meeting. The sheriff's visitor page states that approval as a visitor does not guarantee a visit and that policies can change without notice.
Visitor rules from the forms are specific. Visitors need positive picture identification, must dress appropriately, and may not wear shorts, halter tops, or bare midriffs. Personal property must be left in the foyer for the duration of the visit. Two people can be admitted at the same time, children must be controlled, visits are seated only, and unruly conduct ends the visit. Visitors are searched before entering the visit room and may be searched at the end of the visit.
| Visit Step | Official Dukes County Rule | Source Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Registration timing | At least 24 hours before allotted visit time | DCSO visitor page and form |
| Form return | Return the Visit Request Form to the Control Room | Pine Street entrance |
| Identification | Positive picture ID required | Visitor form rules |
| Professional visits | Attorney and clergy form has separate business and ID fields | DCSO professional visitor form |
| AA or AlAnon | Submit registration at least one week before the first meeting | DCSO visitor page |
Dukes County Jail Mail
Official DCSO sources publish the inmate mail route but do not publish a county jail commissary vendor, money-deposit vendor, phone-call vendor, video-visitation vendor, or fee table. Mail should be addressed to the inmate by name at P.O. Box 252 in Edgartown. For legal or professional mail, confirm any special labeling with the jail before sending. State DOC deposit guidance applies to Massachusetts state-prison inmates and should not be treated as the Dukes County jail commissary rule.
| Service | Provider / Detail |
|---|---|
| Inmate Mail | Inmate name, P.O. Box 252, Edgartown, MA 02539 |
| Legal Mail | No separate official legal-mail address located; call the jail to confirm handling. |
| Commissary Deposits | No official DCSO vendor or fee table located. |
| Phone / Video | No official DCSO public phone or video vendor located. |
| Education Tablets | DCSO describes Edovo tablets for programming and education, not as a public messaging vendor. |
Dukes County Jail Booking
The public booking path begins with arrest by a local law-enforcement agency on Martha's Vineyard or by another authority, followed by temporary holding or delivery into the DCSO regional lock-up and jail function at 149 Main Street. DCSO then handles jail intake, custody, transport, and medical screening. Official retention schedules identify booking sheets, fingerprint cards, arrest records, warrants, and related reports as arrest and booking record categories, but DCSO does not publish a sample booking sheet online.
Every person placed in sheriff custody receives medical intake through the Health Services Unit. DCSO says medical care may include physicals, acute care, sick calls, dental care, eye care, mental-health access, and related treatment needs. Housing and classification are not posted as individual public records, but the MSA operational-capacity report shows maximum housing, medium sentenced housing, pre-release, lockup, and holding-cell categories. If a person has been arraigned, MassCourts and the clerk's office become the route for docket and charge information.
- Regional lock-up
- Short-term holding for all six Martha's Vineyard towns before court movement or jail placement.
- House of correction
- A Massachusetts county correctional facility for local sentences, commonly up to 2.5 years.
- Pre-arraignment safekeep
- A person held before the first court appearance and formal arraignment.
- Detainer
- A hold or notice from another agency that can affect release from county custody.
About Dukes County Jail
The jail has deep local history. The Massachusetts Sheriffs' Association Dukes County profile says the original Dukes County Jail was built in 1808 near the current Registry of Deeds. It was a stone and brick jail behind a keeper's house, 20 by 12 feet, two stories, and four rooms. In 1875, under Sheriff Francis Smith, the original jail was removed and a new jail was built with 12 cells that the association says remain in use.
The Massachusetts Sheriffs' Association profile gives useful background on the sheriff's office and historic jail.
That history helps explain why a small island county still has a sheriff-run jail, house of correction, and regional lock-up centered in Edgartown.
DCSO also describes a broad set of jail programs. Education, vocation, addiction, anger management, self-help, HiSET exam proctoring, Edovo tablets, Path of Freedom mindfulness sessions, a weekly reading club, online courses, parenting skills courses, guest speakers, and inmate labor or road crew opportunities are all identified in official sheriff materials. Human Services works with each inmate on a therapeutic care plan covering education, medical needs, dental needs, mental-health concerns, and coordination with local service providers and volunteers.
Conditions reporting should be handled with care. A Dec. 18, 2025 DPH inspection counted 16 inmates, and the report dated Dec. 30, 2025 found deficiencies under cited correctional-facility regulations. DPH later noted concern with overcrowded conditions in plan-of-correction responses dated Jan. 20 and Jan. 29, 2026. Those findings do not replace the jail's current custody count; they are inspection records tied to the dates in the reports.
Note: Call the jail before traveling to confirm custody, approved visitation, entrance instructions, and any same-day policy changes.