Reviewed and updated October 4, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every office link on this page was opened and checked against the office's own website at review time.
Clayton is a town in Johnston County, North Carolina, with about 32,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Its public records are split between the town and the county. The town keeps police reports, council records and its own licenses and permits; court cases, jail bookings, deeds and vital records are county or state records. This guide names the Clayton offices SearchSystems verified, links to each one's own website and gives the phone number and address where the office publishes them. SearchSystems verified 3 town office pages for Clayton, every one opened and checked.
In this guide: Town or county, Town Clerk, Police records, Town Hall, Records requests, Other cities and Questions.
Town or county record: where Clayton records are kept
- Kept by the Town of Clayton: police reports, council and board meeting records, ordinances and the town's own licenses and permits.
- Kept by Johnston County or the state: court cases, jail bookings, deeds and property values and birth and death certificates. These are not town records; they are in the Johnston County public records guide under court records, jail lookups, property records and vital records.
Clayton Town Clerk: council records and ordinances
The Town Clerk keeps the official records of the town government: council and board agendas and minutes, ordinances and resolutions, and the town's contracts and other official documents. The office below is the one SearchSystems verified for Clayton.
- Website: townofclaytonnc.org/129/Agendas-Minutes (page title: Town Clerk's Office | Clayton, NC)
- Phone: 919-553-5002
- Address: 111 E 2nd St. Clayton, NC 27520
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Clayton police reports and records
Incident reports, crash reports and the other records of the Clayton police are requested from the department's records unit, usually in writing or through an online form. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted, and some states limit crash reports to the people involved and their insurers. The page below is the one SearchSystems verified for Clayton police records.
- Website: townofclaytonnc.org/229/Police-Reports (page title: Police Reports | Clayton, NC)
- Address: 315 East Second Street, Clayton, NC 27520
- Hours: Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Jail bookings and inmate lookups are usually handled by the county, not the town police. They are in the Johnston County public records guide under jail and inmate lookups.
Clayton Town Hall: departments, licenses and permits
Business licenses, building permits, code enforcement cases and the town's other records are kept by the department that issued them. The town's own website below lists its departments and how to reach them.
- Website: townofclaytonnc.org/640/Contact-Us (page title: Contact Us | Clayton, NC)
- Phone: (919) 553-5002
- Address: 111 E. Second Street Clayton, NC 27520
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Public records requests to Clayton
North Carolina public records law applies to the town government of Clayton. A record that is not posted online is requested from the office that holds it: the Town Clerk for council and town records, the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records. A request that names a date, an address, or a report or case number is the easiest to answer.
Other cities and towns in Johnston County
SearchSystems has a guide like this one for these other cities and towns in Johnston County. The Johnston County public records guide covers the records the county keeps for all of them.
Clayton Arrest Records
The Clayton arrest records guide covers the agency that reports Clayton's arrests to the FBI and the 464 arrests it reported for 2025. It also says where a person arrested in Clayton is held, how to find out about an arrest and how to get a copy of the report.
Clayton Records Guides
SearchSystems has eight more guides to Clayton, each written from the city's own offices and figures: Clayton warrants (who issues and serves them, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one), Clayton inmate search (the jail page of the Johnston County Sheriff's Office, the jail numbers and who books people), Clayton criminal records (the court file, the North Carolina criminal history and the local arrest records), Clayton court records (which court hears what, the case search and who keeps the files), Clayton police reports (which agency holds a report and what the North Carolina Public Records Act requires), Clayton DUI (the DWI law, the arrest, the court case and the license case), Clayton divorce records (which court holds the file and how a certified copy is had) and Clayton property records (deeds, assessed values, permits and evictions).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the official Clayton website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records directory, online since 1997. It links to the official Clayton offices listed above, and the town's own website is townofclaytonnc.org; SearchSystems does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.
How do I get a police report in Clayton?
Request it from the Clayton police records unit at townofclaytonnc.org/229/Police-Reports. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted.
Where do I find Clayton meeting minutes and ordinances?
From the Town Clerk at townofclaytonnc.org/129/Agendas-Minutes, phone 919-553-5002. The office keeps the official agendas and minutes, ordinances and resolutions.
Where do I find court records or jail bookings for Clayton?
Clayton cases are heard by the courts that serve Johnston County, and people arrested in Clayton are usually booked into the county jail. Both are covered in the Johnston County public records guide on SearchSystems.
How do I request a public record from Clayton?
From the office that holds it: the Town Clerk for council and town records, the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records. North Carolina public records law applies to town governments.