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 2024. 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 on September 23, 2026.
Nashville, North Carolina, in Nash County, has about 5,800 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 Nash 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: Nashville public records, Nash County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Nashville
The FBI lists Nashville with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Nashville Police Department. It reported 54 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year. 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 Nash County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 391 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Nash County: Nash County Alcoholic Beverage Control Enforcement (other).
How Many Arrests Nashville 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.
- Nashville: 54 for 2024, 71 for 2023, 96 for 2022 and 37 for 2021.
Nashville's 54 arrests in 2024 were down 24 percent from 71 in 2023.
Across Nash County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,833 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Nashville Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Nashville 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 140 people, down from about 240 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 276 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 Nash County Sheriff's Office at nashcountync.gov/252/Detention-Center (page title: Detention Center | Nash County, NC), 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 Nashville
For Nashville the place to look is the case index of the Nash 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/nash-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 Nashville
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 agency that reports for Nashville: its own records unit.
- An arrest by the Nash County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Nash County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/nash-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Nash County guide covers every agency in the county: Nash County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Nashville each year?
Nashville reported 54 arrests to the FBI for 2024, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Nashville?
Ask the Nash County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at nashcountync.gov/252/Detention-Center.
Where are people arrested in Nashville booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Nash County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Nashville?
The court files of criminal cases in the Nash 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 Nashville?
From the agency that made the arrest: the agency that reports for Nashville for its own arrests, the Nash 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 Nashville 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.