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.
Catawba County, North Carolina, has about 167,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Catawba County is held at the county jail, run by the Catawba 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: Catawba County public records, Catawba County arrest records, Catawba County warrants, Catawba County criminal records, Catawba County court records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Catawba County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Catawba County is held at the county jail, run by the Catawba County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office at injail.catawbacountync.gov/whosinjail (page title: Who's In Jail), 170 Newton District Court Conover Police Department View Alford, Alonzo 6/21/2026 441 2ND ST PL SW HICKORY, NC 28602, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The Catawba County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 340 people, up from about 210 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2022, the last year with a capacity figure, was 539 beds, and it ran at 55 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Catawba County has about 167,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 20 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Catawba County Jail
The Catawba County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Hickory, Newton, Conover, Long View, Maiden, Claremont and two more cities make the arrests that end in a booking in Catawba County.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Catawba County Sheriff's Office's 2,097 for 2025, Hickory's 1,687 for 2025 and Brookford's 1,153 for 2025.
Together, the six agencies in Catawba County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,672 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 Catawba County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Catawba County 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Catawba County?
Look on the custody page of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office at injail.catawbacountync.gov/whosinjail. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Catawba County jail?
About 340 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 539 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Catawba 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 Catawba 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.