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.
Burke County, North Carolina, has about 89,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Burke County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and one state agency. 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 Burke 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: Burke County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Burke County
The Burke County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Burke County. It reported 851 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Morganton, 17,825 residents: 371 arrests reported for 2025.
- Valdese, 4,713 residents: 143 arrests reported for 2025.
- Drexel, 1,777 residents: 49 arrests reported for 2025.
- Glen Alpine, 1,532 residents: 1,153 arrests reported for 2025.
- Rhodhiss, 987 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 Long View Police Department and the Hickory Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Burke County, so their arrests are not broken out for Burke County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Burke County: the State Park Rangers at South Mountains (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Burke 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.
- Glen Alpine: 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.
- Rhodhiss: 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.
- Burke County Sheriff's Office: 851 for 2025, 988 for 2024, 1,200 for 2023, 1,185 for 2022, 980 for 2021 and 1,055 for 2020.
- Morganton: 371 for 2025, 1,056 for 2024, 1,500 for 2023, 1,142 for 2022, 769 for 2021 and 1,359 for 2020.
- Valdese: 143 for 2025, 165 for 2024, 108 for 2023, 69 for 2022, 72 for 2021 and 131 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Drexel: 49 for 2025, 28 for 2024, 48 for 2022, 61 for 2021, 57 for 2020 and 57 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,720 arrests that year. The five of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,349 in 2025 against 3,507 in 2024, down 4.5 percent.
Through July 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,084 arrests, against 2,135 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Burke County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Burke County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 120 people, down from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 176 beds, and it ran at 102 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 Burke County Sheriff's Office at burkenc.org/2562/Jail (page title: Jail | Burke County, NC), phone 828-764-9590, 130 Government Dr Morganton, NC 28655, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, whose inmate locator is at dac.nc.gov/dac-services/criminal-offender-searches.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Burke County
For Burke County the place to look is the case index of the Burke 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/burke-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 Burke 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 Burke County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 828-764-9590.
- An arrest in Morganton, Valdese, Drexel, Glen Alpine or Rhodhiss: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park Rangers at South Mountains: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Burke County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/burke-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Burke County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the eight cities in Burke County: Morganton, Valdese, Drexel, Glen Alpine and Rhodhiss. Hildebran, Connelly Springs and Rutherford College 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 Burke County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Burke County each year?
Glen Alpine reported 1,153 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,720 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Burke County?
Ask the Burke County Sheriff's Office at 828-764-9590; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at burkenc.org/2562/Jail.
Where are people arrested in Burke County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Burke County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Burke County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Burke 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 Burke County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Burke 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 Burke 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.