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 25, 2026.
Boone, North Carolina, in Watauga County, has about 20,000 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 Watauga 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: Boone public records, Watauga County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Boone
The FBI lists Boone with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Boone Police Department. It reported 505 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 Watauga County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 633 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Watauga County: Appalachian State University (campus police); the State Park Rangers at Elk Knob (state agency).
How Many Arrests Boone 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.
- Boone: 505 for 2025, 375 for 2024, 433 for 2023, 516 for 2022, 390 for 2021 and 431 for 2020.
Boone's 505 arrests in 2025 were up 35 percent from 375 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Boone reported 392 arrests, against 335 in the same months of 2025.
Across Watauga County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,271 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Boone Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Boone is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 60 people, down from about 85 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 106 beds, and it ran at 80 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 Watauga County Sheriff's Office at wataugacounty.org/App_Pages/Dept/Sheriff/detention.aspx (page title: Watauga County, NC), phone (828) 265-7614, 184 Hodges Gap Road Boone, NC 28607, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction lists its inmates at dac.nc.gov/dac-services/criminal-offender-searches.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Boone
An arrest in Boone can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Watauga 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/watauga-county); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at wataugacounty.org/app_pages/dept/DA/home.aspx, phone 828-268-6610).
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 Boone
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 Boone police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at boonenc.gov/327/Public-Records-Request (page title: Public Records Request | Boone, NC), Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Watauga County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (828) 265-7614.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 828-268-6610, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Watauga County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/watauga-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Watauga County guide covers every agency in the county: Watauga County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Boone each year?
Boone reported 505 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Boone?
Ask the Watauga County Sheriff's Office at (828) 265-7614; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at wataugacounty.org.
Where are people arrested in Boone booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Watauga County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Boone?
The court files of criminal cases in the Watauga 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 Boone?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Boone police for its own arrests, the Watauga 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.
Is this the official Boone 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.