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.
Tarboro, North Carolina, in Edgecombe County, has about 11,000 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 Edgecombe 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: Tarboro public records, Edgecombe County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Tarboro
The FBI lists Tarboro with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Tarboro Police Department. It reported 329 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 Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 852 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Tarboro 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.
- Tarboro: 329 for 2025, 388 for 2024 and 362 for 2023.
Tarboro's 329 arrests in 2025 were down 15 percent from 388 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Tarboro reported 268 arrests, against 205 in the same months of 2025.
Across Edgecombe County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,334 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Tarboro Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Tarboro 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 140 people, down from about 220 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2018, the last year with a capacity figure, was 203 beds, and it ran at 104 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 Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office at edgecombecountync.gov/departments/sheriff/index.php (page title: Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office), phone 252-641-7911, 219 Physical Address 3005 Anaconda Rd Tarboro, NC 27886, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Tarboro
For Tarboro the place to look is the case index of the Edgecombe 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/edgecombe-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 Tarboro
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 Tarboro police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at tarboro-nc.com/departments/police_department/police_operations/inde... (page title: Town Of Tarboro, NC), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 252-641-7911.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Edgecombe County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/edgecombe-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Edgecombe County guide covers every agency in the county: Edgecombe County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Tarboro each year?
Tarboro reported 329 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Tarboro?
Ask the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office at 252-641-7911; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at edgecombecountync.gov.
Where are people arrested in Tarboro booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Tarboro?
The court files of criminal cases in the Edgecombe 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 Tarboro?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Tarboro police for its own arrests, the Edgecombe 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 Tarboro 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.