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.
Jacksonville, North Carolina, in Onslow County, has about 71,000 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 Onslow 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: Jacksonville public records, Onslow County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Jacksonville
The FBI lists Jacksonville with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Jacksonville Police Department. It reported 1,725 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 Onslow County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 2,841 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Onslow County: Albert J. Ellis Airport (other); the State Park Rangers at Hammocks Beach (state agency).
How Many Arrests Jacksonville 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.
- Jacksonville: 1,725 for 2025, 2,121 for 2024, 2,412 for 2023, 1,889 for 2022, 1,883 for 2021 and 2,151 for 2020.
Jacksonville's 1,725 arrests in 2025 were down 19 percent from 2,121 in 2024.
Through April 2026, Jacksonville reported 487 arrests, against 585 in the same months of 2025.
Across Onslow County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,118 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jacksonville Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Jacksonville 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 360 people, down from about 410 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 528 beds, and it ran at 77 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 Onslow County Sheriff's Office at onslowcountync.gov/1318/Detention-Division (page title: Detention Division | Onslow County, NC), phone (910) 937-1475, 717 Court St Jacksonville, NC 28540, 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 Jacksonville
For Jacksonville the place to look is the case index of the Onslow 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/onslow-county, phone 910-478-3604).
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 Jacksonville
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Jacksonville police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at jacksonvillenc.gov/m/faq?cat=25#question-190 (page title: FAQs | CivicPlus.CMS.FAQ), phone 910-455-1472, Tuesday and Thursday, 8-11AM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Onslow County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (910) 937-1475.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Onslow County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/onslow-county, phone 910-478-3604.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at onslowcountync.gov/756/Records (page title: Records Request | Onslow County, NC).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Onslow County guide covers every agency in the county: Onslow County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jacksonville each year?
Jacksonville reported 1,725 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Jacksonville?
Ask the Onslow County Sheriff's Office at (910) 937-1475; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at onslowcountync.gov/1318/Detention-Division.
Where are people arrested in Jacksonville booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Onslow County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jacksonville?
The court files of criminal cases in the Onslow 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 Jacksonville?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jacksonville police for its own arrests, the Onslow 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 onslowcountync.gov/756/Records.
Is this the official Jacksonville 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.