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.
Buncombe County, North Carolina, has about 279,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office, six city agencies and four campus, state or other 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 Buncombe 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: Buncombe County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Buncombe County
The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Buncombe County. It reported 1,220 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists six cities in Buncombe County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Asheville, 94,992 residents: 2,833 arrests reported for 2025.
- Black Mountain, 8,572 residents: 142 arrests reported for 2025.
- Woodfin, 8,158 residents: 164 arrests reported for 2025.
- Weaverville, 4,799 residents: 146 arrests reported for 2020.
- Biltmore Forest, 1,462 residents: 57 arrests reported for 2025.
- Montreat, 1,044 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.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Buncombe County: the University of North Carolina at Asheville (campus police); Asheville Regional Airport (other); the Department of Health and Human Resources and North Carolina Arboretum (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Buncombe 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.
- Asheville: 2,833 for 2025, 2,565 for 2024, 2,640 for 2023, 2,524 for 2022, 2,296 for 2021 and 2,853 for 2020.
- Buncombe County Sheriff's Office: 1,220 for 2025, 1,180 for 2024, 1,135 for 2023, 1,123 for 2022, 1,419 for 2021 and 1,609 for 2020.
- Montreat: 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.
- Woodfin: 164 for 2025, 72 for 2024, 145 for 2023, 127 for 2022, 150 for 2021 and 128 for 2020.
- Black Mountain: 142 for 2025, 148 for 2024, 108 for 2023, 115 for 2022, 272 for 2021 and 323 for 2020.
- Biltmore Forest: 57 for 2025, 60 for 2024, 30 for 2023, 33 for 2022, 30 for 2021 and 72 for 2020.
- Weaverville: 146 for 2020 and 204 for 2019.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,569 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,569 in 2025 against 5,188 in 2024, up 7.3 percent.
Through July 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,376 arrests, against 3,168 in the same months of 2025.
Weaverville reported only part of 2025 (1 month) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Buncombe County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Buncombe 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 400 people, down from about 480 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 534 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 Buncombe County Sheriff's Office at buncombenc.gov/663/Sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Buncombe County, NC), 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 Buncombe County
Whether someone was arrested in Buncombe County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Buncombe 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/buncombe-county); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at buncombenc.gov/m/directory/department?did=124, phone 828-259-3410).
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 Buncombe 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 Buncombe County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Asheville, Black Mountain, Woodfin, Weaverville, Biltmore Forest or Montreat: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville Regional Airport or the Department of Health and Human Resources: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 828-259-3410, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Buncombe County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/buncombe-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at buncombenc.gov/1218/911-Records-Requests (page title: 911 Records Requests | Buncombe County, NC).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Buncombe County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the six cities in Buncombe County: Asheville, Black Mountain, Woodfin, Weaverville, Biltmore Forest and Montreat.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Buncombe County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Buncombe County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Asheville (94,992)
- Black Mountain (8,572)
- Woodfin (8,158)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Buncombe County each year?
Asheville reported 2,833 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,569 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Buncombe County?
Ask the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at buncombenc.gov/663/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Buncombe County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Buncombe County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Buncombe 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 Buncombe County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Buncombe 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at buncombenc.gov/1218/911-Records-Requests.
Is this the official Buncombe 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.