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.
Morehead City, North Carolina, in Carteret County, has about 10,000 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 Carteret 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: Morehead City public records, Carteret County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Morehead City
The FBI lists Morehead City with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Morehead City Police Department. It reported 358 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 Carteret County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,022 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Carteret County: the Division of Marine Fisheries and the State Park Rangers at Fort Macon (state agency); the North Carolina State Port Authority's Division 2 (other).
How Many Arrests Morehead 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.
- Morehead City: 358 for 2025, 277 for 2024, 295 for 2023, 379 for 2022, 447 for 2021 and 490 for 2020.
Morehead City's 358 arrests in 2025 were up 29 percent from 277 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Morehead City reported 279 arrests, against 216 in the same months of 2025.
Across Carteret County, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,068 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Morehead City Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Morehead City 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 130 people, down from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 116 beds, and it ran at 154 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Carteret County Sheriff's Office at carteretcountync.gov/874/Inmate-Search (page title: Inmate Search | Carteret County, NC), phone 252-504-4832, 304 Craven Street Beaufort, NC 28516, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction lists its inmates at dac.nc.gov/dac-services/criminal-offender-searches.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Morehead City
An arrest in Morehead City can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Carteret County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Carteret 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/carteret-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 Morehead 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 Morehead City police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at moreheadcitync.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3475/Public-Record-Request-F... (page title: MOREHEAD CITY PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST FORM), phone 252-726-3131, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Carteret County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 252-504-4832.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Carteret County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/carteret-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at carteretcountync.gov (page title: Public Records Request | Carteret County, NC).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Carteret County guide covers every agency in the county: Carteret County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Morehead City each year?
Morehead City reported 358 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Morehead City?
Look on the custody page of the Carteret County Sheriff's Office at carteretcountync.gov/874/Inmate-Search, or call 252-504-4832. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Morehead City booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Carteret County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Morehead City?
The court files of criminal cases in the Carteret 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 Morehead City?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Morehead City police for its own arrests, the Carteret 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 carteretcountync.gov.
Is this the official Morehead 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.