The Essex County Sheriff’s Transportation Division is one of the busiest inmate transportation units in the nation and is responsible for the safe and secure transfer of prisoners from the Essex County Correctional Facility to the Essex Vicinage of the Superior Court and to other federal, county and municipal courts.

On an annual basis, Transportation Division officers log more than 150,000 miles as they convey more than 85,000 adult and juvenile prisoners on more than 7,000 round-trip transports.

The distance for our daily transports between the Essex County Correctional Facility and the court facility is four miles each way. These daily trips take our officers and their prisoners through a heavily populated urban area. Because of this, the safety and security of Newark residents are of paramount concern to our officers. Transport escorts of prisoners to other judicial venues are sometimes as much as 150 miles away from Newark.

To execute these responsibilities, the Transportation Division maintains and operates a fleet of thirteen specially equipped vans that carry up to thirteen inmates each and two prisoner buses that can transport forty prisoners each.

Another function of our Transportation Division is to coordinate and deliver inmates from municipal police lock-ups to the county jail. This special service was instituted by Sheriff Fontoura to alleviate the burden on local taxpayers by reducing municipal police costs. This policy also allows local police departments to put their officers on the streets of their community for patrol and it enables them to better respond to local calls for assistance in serving and protecting their communities.