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.
Columbus County, North Carolina, has about 50,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Columbus 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 Columbus 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: Columbus County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Columbus County
The Columbus County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Columbus County. It reported 1,153 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:
- Whiteville, 4,688 residents: 352 arrests reported for 2025.
- Tabor City, 3,831 residents: 91 arrests reported for 2025.
- Chadbourn, 1,528 residents: 179 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lake Waccamaw, 1,227 residents: 1,153 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fair Bluff, 728 residents: 12 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 FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Columbus County: the State Park Rangers at Lake Waccamaw (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Columbus 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.
- Lake Waccamaw: 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.
- Columbus County Sheriff's Office: 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.
- Whiteville: 352 for 2025, 251 for 2024, 325 for 2023, 307 for 2022, 231 for 2021 and 353 for 2020.
- Chadbourn: 179 for 2025, 278 for 2024, 319 for 2023, 222 for 2022, 252 for 2021 and 259 for 2020.
- Tabor City: 91 for 2025, 101 for 2024, 53 for 2023, 92 for 2022, 125 for 2021 and 69 for 2020.
- Fair Bluff: 12 for 2025, 20 for 2023, 19 for 2022, 31 for 2021, 26 for 2020 and 38 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,940 arrests that year. The five of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,928 in 2025 against 2,956 in 2024, down 0.9 percent.
Through June 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,452 arrests, against 1,470 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Columbus County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Columbus 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 200 people, up from about 160 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 192 beds, and it ran at 82 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 Columbus County Sheriff's Office at columbussheriff.com (page title: Columbus County Sheriff's Office | Dedicated To Serve), phone (910) 642-6551, 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 Columbus County
For Columbus County the place to look is the case index of the Columbus 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/columbus-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 Columbus County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Columbus County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (910) 642-6551.
- An arrest in Whiteville, Tabor City, Chadbourn, Lake Waccamaw or Fair Bluff: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park Rangers at Lake Waccamaw: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Columbus County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/columbus-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Columbus County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the ten cities in Columbus County: Whiteville, Tabor City, Chadbourn, Lake Waccamaw and Fair Bluff. Brunswick, Sandyfield, Bolton, Boardman and Cerro Gordo 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 Columbus County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Columbus County each year?
Lake Waccamaw reported 1,153 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,940 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Columbus County?
Ask the Columbus County Sheriff's Office at (910) 642-6551; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at columbussheriff.com.
Where are people arrested in Columbus County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Columbus County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Columbus County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Columbus 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 Columbus County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Columbus 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 Columbus 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.