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.
Carteret County, North Carolina, has about 70,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Carteret County is held at the county jail, run by the Carteret County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Carteret County public records, Carteret County arrest records, Carteret County warrants, Carteret County criminal records, Carteret County court records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Carteret County
The county jail, run by the Carteret County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Carteret County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Carteret County Sheriff's Office at carteretcountync.gov/874/Inmate-Search (page title: Inmate Search | Carteret County, NC), phone 252-504-4832, 304 Craven Street Beaufort, NC 28516, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone 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.
The Carteret County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 130 people, down from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 116 beds, and it ran at 154 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Carteret County has about 70,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 18 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Carteret County Jail
The Carteret County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Morehead City, Beaufort, Newport, Emerald Isle, Cape Carteret, Pine Knoll Shores and two more cities make the arrests that end in a booking in Carteret County.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Carteret County: the Division of Marine Fisheries and the State Park Rangers at Fort Macon (state agency); the North Carolina State Port Authority's Division 2 (other agency).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Carteret County Sheriff's Office's 1,022 for 2025, Morehead City's 358 for 2025 and Newport's 257 for 2025.
Together, the nine agencies in Carteret County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,068 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Carteret County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction lists its inmates at dac.nc.gov/dac-services/criminal-offender-searches.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Carteret County?
Look on the custody page of the Carteret County Sheriff's Office at carteretcountync.gov/874/Inmate-Search, or call 252-504-4832. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Carteret County jail?
About 130 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 116 beds.
What is the phone number for the Carteret County jail?
252-504-4832, the number on the page of the Carteret County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Carteret County go?
To a facility of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction; its inmate locator is at dac.nc.gov.
Is this the official Carteret 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.