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.
Wilmington, North Carolina, in New Hanover County, has about 125,000 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 New Hanover 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: Wilmington public records, New Hanover County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Wilmington
The FBI lists Wilmington with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Wilmington Police Department. It reported 2,952 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 New Hanover County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,294 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in New Hanover County: the State Park Rangers at Fort Fisher and the State Park Rangers at Carolina Beach (state agency); the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (campus police); the North Carolina State Port Authority's Division 1 (other).
How Many Arrests Wilmington 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.
- Wilmington: 2,952 for 2025, 2,711 for 2024, 2,746 for 2023, 2,849 for 2022, 2,792 for 2021 and 2,635 for 2020.
Wilmington's 2,952 arrests in 2025 were up 8.9 percent from 2,711 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Wilmington reported 1,682 arrests, against 2,115 in the same months of 2025.
Across New Hanover County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,206 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Wilmington Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Wilmington 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 490 people, down from about 590 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 672 beds, and it ran at 74 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 New Hanover County Sheriff's Office at p2c.nhcgov.com/p2c/jailinmates.aspx (page title: New Hanover Sheriff's Office P2C), 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 Wilmington
An arrest in Wilmington can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the New Hanover 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/new-hanover-county); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at nccourts.gov/news/tag/general-news/governor-cooper-appoints-distric..., phone (910) 772-6600).
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 Wilmington
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 Wilmington police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at wilmingtonnc.gov/departments/police-department/policing-services/ad... (page title: Wilmington, NC), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
- An arrest by the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (910) 772-6600, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the New Hanover County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/new-hanover-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at nhcgov.com/193/Information-Requests (page title: Information Requests | New Hanover County, NC).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The New Hanover County guide covers every agency in the county: New Hanover County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Wilmington each year?
Wilmington reported 2,952 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Wilmington?
Ask the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at p2c.nhcgov.com/p2c/jailinmates.aspx.
Where are people arrested in Wilmington booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Wilmington?
The court files of criminal cases in the New Hanover 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 Wilmington?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Wilmington police for its own arrests, the New Hanover 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 nhcgov.com/193/Information-Requests.
Is this the official Wilmington 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.