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 26, 2026.
Clinton, North Carolina, in Sampson County, has about 8,300 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 Sampson 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: Clinton public records, Sampson County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Clinton
The FBI lists Clinton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Clinton Police Department. It reported 570 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 Sampson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 841 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Clinton 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.
- Clinton: 570 for 2025, 836 for 2024, 953 for 2023, 728 for 2022, 748 for 2021 and 591 for 2020.
Clinton's 570 arrests in 2025 were down 32 percent from 836 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Clinton reported 305 arrests, against 432 in the same months of 2025.
Across Sampson County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,411 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clinton Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Clinton 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 250 people, up from about 250 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 242 beds, and it ran at 102 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 Sampson County Sheriff's Office at sampsoncountync.gov/Government/Departments-A-Z/Sheriffs-Office/Dete... (page title: Detention Center | Sampson County Government), phone (910) 592-8178, 8178 Location 112 Fontana Street Clinton, NC 28328, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Clinton
For Clinton the place to look is the case index of the Sampson 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/sampson-county).
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 Clinton
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 Clinton police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofclintonnc.com/199/Records (page title: Records | Clinton, NC), phone 910-592-3105, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Sampson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (910) 592-8178.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Sampson County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/sampson-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sampsoncountync.gov (page title: Public Records Request | Sampson County Government).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Sampson County guide covers every agency in the county: Sampson County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clinton each year?
Clinton reported 570 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Clinton?
Ask the Sampson County Sheriff's Office at (910) 592-8178; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sampsoncountync.gov.
Where are people arrested in Clinton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sampson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clinton?
The court files of criminal cases in the Sampson 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 Clinton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clinton police for its own arrests, the Sampson 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 sampsoncountync.gov.
Is this the official Clinton 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.