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 October 2, 2026.
Anson County, North Carolina, has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Anson County Sheriff's Office and four city agencies. An arrest 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 Anson County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Anson County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Anson County
The Anson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Anson County. It reported 481 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Anson County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Wadesboro, 4,965 residents: 445 arrests reported for 2025.
- Polkton, 2,698 residents: 1,153 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lilesville, 392 residents: 1,153 arrests reported for 2025.
- Morven, 327 residents: 1,153 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Anson County
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.
- Lilesville: 1,153 for 2025, 1,163 for 2024, 1,164 for 2023, 1,164 for 2022, 1,164 for 2021 and 1,144 for 2020.
- Morven: 1,153 for 2025, 1,163 for 2024, 1,164 for 2023, 1,164 for 2022, 1,164 for 2021 and 1,144 for 2020.
- Polkton: 1,153 for 2025, 1,163 for 2024, 1,164 for 2023, 1,164 for 2022, 1,164 for 2021 and 1,144 for 2020.
- Anson County Sheriff's Office: 481 for 2025, 506 for 2024, 273 for 2022, 329 for 2020 and 243 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
- Wadesboro: 445 for 2025, 362 for 2024, 609 for 2023, 509 for 2022, 451 for 2021 and 517 for 2020.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,385 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,385 in 2025 against 4,357 in 2024, up 0.6 percent.
Through July 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,126 arrests, against 2,291 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Anson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Anson County 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 57 people, up from about 55 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Anson County Sheriff's Office at ansonsheriff.com (page title: Anson County, North Carolina Jail Inmate Locator), phone 704-695-9328, a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Anson County
An arrest in Anson County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Anson County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Anson 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/anson-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 Anson County
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 Anson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 704-695-9328.
- An arrest in Wadesboro, Polkton, Lilesville or Morven: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Anson County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/anson-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Anson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the seven cities in Anson County: Wadesboro, Polkton, Lilesville and Morven. Ansonville, Peachland and McFarlan have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Anson County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Anson County each year?
Lilesville reported 1,153 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,385 between them.
Where are people arrested in Anson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Anson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Anson County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Anson 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 Anson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Anson County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Anson County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.