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 1, 2026.
Cleveland County, North Carolina, has about 102,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Cleveland County is held at the county jail, run by the Cleveland 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: Cleveland County public records, Cleveland County arrest records, Cleveland County warrants, Cleveland County criminal records, Cleveland County court records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Cleveland County
The county jail, run by the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Cleveland County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office at 74.218.167.200/p2c/jailinmates.aspx (page title: Cleveland County Sheriff Office P2C), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 1, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster.
The Cleveland County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 290 people, down from about 330 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Cleveland County has about 102,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 28 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Cleveland County Jail
The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Shelby, Kings Mountain and Boiling Springs make the arrests that end in a booking in Cleveland County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Cleveland County: the State Park Rangers at Crowders Mountain (state agency).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office's 1,858 for 2025, Shelby's 1,216 for 2025 and Kings Mountain's 260 for 2025.
Together, the four agencies in Cleveland County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,371 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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland County?
Ask the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at 74.218.167.200/p2c/jailinmates.aspx.
How many people are in the Cleveland County jail?
About 290 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Cleveland 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 Cleveland 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.