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.
Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in Pasquotank County, has about 19,000 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 Pasquotank 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: Elizabeth City public records, Pasquotank County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Elizabeth City
The FBI lists Elizabeth City with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Elizabeth City Police Department. It reported 164 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 Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 402 arrests for 2024.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Pasquotank County: Elizabeth City State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Elizabeth City Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Elizabeth City: 164 for 2025, 183 for 2023, 283 for 2022, 375 for 2021, 602 for 2020 and 940 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
Across Pasquotank County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2023 on file reported 686 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Elizabeth City Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Elizabeth 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 120 people, down from about 150 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 159 beds, and it ran at 72 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 Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office at pasquotankcountync.org/sheriff (page title: Sheriff's Office | Pasquotank County North Carolina), phone 252-338-2191, 200 East Colonial Ave. Elizabeth City, NC 27909, 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 Elizabeth City
For Elizabeth City the place to look is the case index of the Pasquotank 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/pasquotank-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 Elizabeth 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 Elizabeth City police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at elizabethcitync.gov/police-department (page title: Police Department | Elizabeth City, NC), phone (252)335-4321, 305 East Main Street Elizabeth City, NC 27909, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 252-338-2191.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Pasquotank County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/pasquotank-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Pasquotank County guide covers every agency in the county: Pasquotank County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Elizabeth City each year?
Elizabeth City reported 164 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Elizabeth City?
Ask the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office at 252-338-2191; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at pasquotankcountync.org/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Elizabeth City booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Elizabeth City?
The court files of criminal cases in the Pasquotank 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 Elizabeth City?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Elizabeth City police for its own arrests, the Pasquotank 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 Elizabeth 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.