Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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.
Kinston, North Carolina, in Lenoir County, has about 20,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Kinston is held at the county jail, run by the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Kinston public records, Lenoir County inmate search, Kinston arrest records, Kinston warrants, Kinston criminal records, Kinston court records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Kinston
The county jail, run by the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Kinston, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office at lenoircountysheriff.com/detention-division (page title: Detention Division | lcso), phone (252) 559-6100, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at (252) 559-6100.
The Lenoir County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 190 people, down from about 210 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 209 beds, and it ran at 101 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Lenoir County has about 55,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 34 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Lenoir County Jail
The Lenoir County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Kinston (filed by the FBI as Kinston Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Kinston.
The Grifton Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Lenoir County, so its arrests are not broken out for Lenoir County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Kinston's 1,474 for 2025, the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office's 1,454 for 2025 and Pink Hill's 1,153 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Lenoir County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,081 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Kinston arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Lenoir County 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Kinston?
Ask the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office at (252) 559-6100; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at lenoircountysheriff.com/detention-division.
How many people are in the Lenoir County jail?
About 190 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 209 beds.
What is the phone number for the Lenoir County jail?
(252) 559-6100, the number on the page of the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Lenoir County go?
To a facility of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction; its inmate locator is at dac.nc.gov.
Is this the official Kinston 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.