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.
Chowan County, North Carolina, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Chowan County Sheriff's Office and one city 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 Chowan 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: Chowan County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Chowan County
The Chowan County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Chowan County. It reported 232 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Chowan County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Edenton, 4,492 residents: 237 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Chowan 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.
- Edenton: 237 for 2025, 336 for 2024, 306 for 2023, 190 for 2022, 250 for 2021 and 254 for 2020.
- Chowan County Sheriff's Office: 232 for 2025, 151 for 2024, 205 for 2023, 196 for 2022, 218 for 2021 and 169 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 469 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 469 in 2025 against 487 in 2024, down 3.7 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 271 arrests, against 274 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Chowan County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Chowan 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 35 people, up from about 32 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 19 beds, and it ran at 168 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 Chowan County Sheriff's Office at ncsheriffs.org/people/edward-b-basnight (page title: Sheriff Edward B. Basnight | North Carolina Sheriffs' Association), phone (252) 482-8484, 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 Chowan County
Whether someone was arrested in Chowan County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Chowan 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/chowan-county); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at nccourts.gov/taxonomy/term/557).
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 Chowan 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 Chowan County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (252) 482-8484.
- An arrest in Edenton: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Chowan County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/chowan-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Chowan County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Edenton, the one city in Chowan County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Chowan County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Chowan County each year?
Edenton reported 237 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 469 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Chowan County?
Ask the Chowan County Sheriff's Office at (252) 482-8484; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ncsheriffs.org/people/edward-b-basnight.
Where are people arrested in Chowan County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Chowan County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Chowan County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Chowan 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 Chowan County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Chowan 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 Chowan 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.