The Court Security Division is responsible for providing safety and protection to everyone throughout the Family and Criminal Courthouses. This includes judges and court personnel as well as the general public. Officers maintain security and order by guarding prisoners while they are in the court for trial or before a judge on other judicial matters. Additionally, officers assigned to Court security must guard and protect juries during trials and deliberations. If a jury has to be sequestered, it is the Sheriff's responsibility to implement all necessary arrangements. Sheriff's officers must remain with the jury to ensure their safety as well as prevent any outside contact to avoid influencing or tampering of jurors.

The Sheriff's Office is required by law to photograph and fingerprint any person who is arrested for an indictable offense as well as domestic violence offenders who have received final restraining orders in accordance with state law (N.J.S.A. 53:1-15) Specific forms must be used and copies of these records must be forwarded to the State and Federal Bureau of Identification. At the present time, there are thousands of criminal histories and fingerprint records on file in the Sheriff's Identification Section. BCI Unit is responsible for collecting DNA samples of all persons convicted of crimes of the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, or 4^th degree for the purpose of populating the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). These profiles developed as identifiers can serve to eliminate or confirm a suspect where DNA evidence is recovered. This Unit will create photo line-ups and mug-shot photos for the victims of crimes upon request from various police agencies. Pictures are selected from our extensive files which contain over 200,000 photos of individuals who have been arrested for committing crimes. The Identification Section distributes criminal records to other law enforcement and justice agencies.

This Unit has a fully operational photo lab where they print crime scene photos and autopsy photos for use at trials. We also have the ability to make enlargements, enhance images, and produce still shots from video footage. In addition, we have the ability to develop film from 35mm cameras as well as print photos from all types of negatives (i.e. 35mm, 110, and disk film).

The Emergency Medical Response Team consists of Sheriff's Officers who are trained to administer medical assistance in an emergency situation. The team is responsible for providing such aid to any and all personnel who may be in the Criminal or Family Courthouses including employees, prisoners, and members of the general public. Because there are such a great number of people who visit the Courthouses every day, the Medical Response Team must be prepared to mobilize and respond quickly at a moment's notice.

The Sheriff’s Office has a non-medical response team assigned to both the Criminal and Family Courthouses. These team members respond to all non-medical emergency situations that may pose a threat to any and all persons that may be in these buildings on any particular day.

The Investigations Division is responsible for executing warrants that have been issued by the Courts. A warrant is a writ, a written order which requires the Sheriff's Investigators to arrest a specific person once he/she has been located. The fugitive will be brought to court to answer charges or transported to the Adult Correctional Center or Juvenile Detention Center to await his/her court appearance

In a typical year, there are approximately 3,070 warrants received by the Sheriff's Department. Of these, an estimated 2,800 result in an arrest.

Some of the warrants which are commonly executed by Sheriff's Investigators include:

• Bench Warrant: Process issued by the court ("from the bench") for the arrest of a person.
• Violation of Probation Warrant: Process issued by the court when a person violates his/her Probation "contract". Probation is given to defendants who have been convicted of some minor offense and instead of being incarcerated, they are ordered by the court to behave lawfully, usually under the supervision of a probation officer.
• Non-Support Warrant: Process issued by the court when a person fails to maintain regular payments toward his/her child support or alimony obligations.
• Juvenile Warrant: Process issued by the court for a person who commits a criminal offense and is under the age of eighteen (18) years old.

Currently the K-9 unit is comprised of one Narcotics detection dog and two Explosive detection dogs who are on call 24-7. These K-9's respond to requests for service from Law Enforcement Agencies throughout Middlesex County on a routine basis. The MCSO K-9 unit has consistently located and removed numerous narcotics, firearms, and ammunition from the streets of Middlesex County for many years now. Most of these incidents have resulted in arrests and jail time for these offenders.

Tracking Down Offenders Statewide

The Sheriff’s Task Force is comprised of Middlesex County Sheriff’s Officers, Investigators, Middlesex County Prosecutors' Investigators and Municipal Police Officers who track down Middlesex County offenders statewide. This Task Force was created in response to the numerous criminals who commit crimes in Middlesex County and feel they have found themselves safe havens throughout the state outside of our County.

Members of the Taskforce have arrested these criminals and returned them to face justice in Middlesex County from cities as far north as Newark and Elizabeth to cities as far south as Trenton and Camden.

Moving Inmates and Arrested Individuals From the Jails to the Courts

Sheriff's Officers assigned to Prisoner Transport are responsible for moving incarcerated inmates to and from Correctional Institutions and County and Municipal Courts throughout New Jersey. These officers also transport individuals who have been arrested by local police agencies to the County jail. The major benefit of this is having local police patrol units remain in their own municipality where they can provide necessary services and protection to the citizens of their community.

In a characteristic year, the Sheriff's Department will transport approximately 28,000 inmates. The system of Sheriff's Officers Transporting prisoners was developed under a special law enforcement grant.

The economic benefits it provides have proved so successful that Middlesex County's program is currently used as a model for other agencies.