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 on September 23, 2026.
Bladen County, North Carolina, has about 30,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Bladen County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and two state 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 Bladen 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: Bladen County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Bladen County
The Bladen County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Bladen County. It reported 760 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Bladen County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Elizabethtown, 3,290 residents: 150 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bladenboro, 1,642 residents.
- White Lake, 852 residents: 30 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.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Bladen County: the State Park Rangers at Jones Lake and the State Park Rangers at Singletary Lake (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Bladen County
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.
- Bladen County Sheriff's Office: 760 for 2025, 659 for 2024 and 708 for 2023.
- Elizabethtown: 150 for 2025, 191 for 2024, 205 for 2023, 138 for 2022, 51 for 2021 and 73 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- White Lake: 30 for 2025, 17 for 2023 and 3 for 2021; 2022 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 940 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 910 in 2025 against 850 in 2024, up 7.1 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 481 arrests, against 439 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Bladen County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Bladen 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 200 people, up from about 120 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 220 beds, and it ran at 53 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Bladen County
For Bladen County the place to look is the case index of the Bladen 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/bladen-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 Bladen 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 Bladen County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Elizabethtown, Bladenboro or White Lake: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park Rangers at Jones Lake or the State Park Rangers at Singletary Lake: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Bladen County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/bladen-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Bladen County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the seven cities in Bladen County: Elizabethtown, Bladenboro and White Lake. Clarkton, East Arcadia, Dublin and Tar Heel 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 Bladen County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Bladen County each year?
The Bladen County Sheriff's Office reported 760 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 940 between them.
Where are people arrested in Bladen County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Bladen County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Bladen County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Bladen 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 Bladen County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Bladen 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 Bladen 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.