Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 28, 2026.
Bessemer City, North Carolina, in Gaston County, has about 5,700 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Gaston County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Bessemer City public records, Gaston County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Bessemer City
The FBI lists Bessemer City with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Bessemer City Police Department. It reported 127 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Gaston County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 122 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Gaston County: Belmont Abbey College (campus police).
How Many Arrests Bessemer City Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Bessemer City: 127 for 2025, 139 for 2024, 176 for 2023, 245 for 2022, 197 for 2021 and 183 for 2020.
Bessemer City's 127 arrests in 2025 were down 8.6 percent from 139 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Bessemer City reported 90 arrests, against 92 in the same months of 2025.
Across Gaston County, the ten agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,330 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bessemer City Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Bessemer City and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 500 people, down from about 660 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 598 beds, and it ran at 82 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Gaston County Sheriff's Office at gastongov.com/m/directory/department?did=137 (page title: Staff Directory, Sheriff), phone 704-869-6800, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, whose inmate locator is at dac.nc.gov/dac-services/criminal-offender-searches.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Bessemer City
An arrest in Bessemer City can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Gaston County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at nccourts.gov/locations/gaston-county); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at gastongov.com/174/Attorney, phone (704) 852-3113).
Statewide, eCourts Portal is the North Carolina Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
North Carolina does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Bessemer City
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the North Carolina Public Records Act the agency must answer as promptly as possible; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
- An arrest by the Bessemer City police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at bessemercity.com/police-department (page title: Police Department | Bessemer City, NC), phone (704) 629-2235, 132 West Virginia Ave. Bessemer City, NC 28016, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Gaston County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 704-869-6800.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (704) 852-3113, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Gaston County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/gaston-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at gastonianc.gov (page title: City of Gastonia | Public Records Requests).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Gaston County guide covers every agency in the county: Gaston County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bessemer City each year?
Bessemer City reported 127 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Bessemer City?
Ask the Gaston County Sheriff's Office at 704-869-6800; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at gastongov.com/m/directory/department?did=137.
Where are people arrested in Bessemer City booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Gaston County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bessemer City?
The court files of criminal cases in the Gaston County Superior Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the North Carolina Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Bessemer City?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bessemer City police for its own arrests, the Gaston County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the North Carolina Public Records Act the answer is due as promptly as possible; the statute sets no number of days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at gastonianc.gov.
Is this the official Bessemer City website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.