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 October 4, 2026.
Goldsboro, North Carolina, in Wayne County, has about 35,000 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 Wayne 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: Goldsboro public records, Wayne County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Goldsboro
The FBI lists Goldsboro with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Goldsboro Police Department. It reported 819 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 Wayne County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 993 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Wayne County: Cherry Hospital and the State Park Rangers at Cliffs of the Neuse (state agency).
How Many Arrests Goldsboro 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.
- Goldsboro: 819 for 2025, 681 for 2024, 618 for 2023, 626 for 2022, 629 for 2021 and 895 for 2020.
Goldsboro's 819 arrests in 2025 were up 20 percent from 681 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Goldsboro reported 424 arrests, against 480 in the same months of 2025.
Across Wayne County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,283 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Goldsboro Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Goldsboro 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 340 people, down from about 370 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 421 beds, and it ran at 88 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 Wayne County Sheriff's Office at waynegov.com/371/Detention-Center (page title: Detention Center | Wayne County, NC), phone 919-731-1660, 207 E Chestnut Street Goldsboro, NC 27530, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Goldsboro
For Goldsboro the place to look is the case index of the Wayne 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/wayne-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 Goldsboro
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 Goldsboro police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at police.goldsboronc.gov (page title: Goldsboro Police Department | Committed to Life Safety), phone 919-705-6572, 204 S. Center Street, Goldsboro NC 27530, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Wayne County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 919-731-1660.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Wayne County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/wayne-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at waynegov.com (page title: Form Center, Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Wayne County guide covers every agency in the county: Wayne County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Goldsboro each year?
Goldsboro reported 819 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Goldsboro?
Ask the Wayne County Sheriff's Office at 919-731-1660; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at waynegov.com/371/Detention-Center.
Where are people arrested in Goldsboro booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Wayne County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Goldsboro?
The court files of criminal cases in the Wayne 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 Goldsboro?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Goldsboro police for its own arrests, the Wayne 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 waynegov.com.
Is this the official Goldsboro 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.