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.
Clayton, North Carolina, in Johnston County, has about 32,000 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 Johnston 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: Clayton public records, Johnston County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Clayton
The FBI lists Clayton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Clayton Police Department. It reported 464 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 Johnston County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,565 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Clayton 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.
- Clayton: 464 for 2025, 335 for 2024, 515 for 2023, 451 for 2022, 470 for 2021 and 488 for 2020.
Clayton's 464 arrests in 2025 were up 39 percent from 335 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Clayton reported 245 arrests, against 297 in the same months of 2025.
Across Johnston County, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,761 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clayton Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Clayton 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 270 people, up from about 220 in 2018. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Clayton
An arrest in Clayton can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Johnston 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/johnston-county); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at johnstonnc.gov/content.cfm?id=79).
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 Clayton
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 Clayton police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at townofclaytonnc.org/229/Police-Reports (page title: Police Reports | Clayton, NC), 315 East Second Street, Clayton, NC 27520, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Johnston County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Johnston County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/johnston-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Johnston County guide covers every agency in the county: Johnston County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clayton each year?
Clayton reported 464 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Clayton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Johnston County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clayton?
The court files of criminal cases in the Johnston 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 Clayton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clayton police for its own arrests, the Johnston 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 Clayton 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.