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.
Craven County, North Carolina, has about 104,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Craven County Sheriff's Office and six city agencies. 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 Craven 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: Craven County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Craven County
The Craven County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Craven County. It reported 217 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists six cities in Craven County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- New Bern, 34,218 residents: 513 arrests reported for 2025.
- Havelock, 17,407 residents: 255 arrests reported for 2025.
- Trent Woods, 4,047 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2023.
- River Bend, 2,882 residents: 1,153 arrests reported for 2025.
- Vanceboro, 866 residents: 1,153 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bridgeton, 349 residents: 1,153 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 Craven 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.
- Vanceboro: 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.
- Bridgeton: 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.
- River Bend: 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.
- New Bern: 513 for 2025, 517 for 2024, 388 for 2023, 474 for 2022, 461 for 2021 and 450 for 2020.
- Havelock: 255 for 2025, 341 for 2024, 383 for 2023, 324 for 2022, 366 for 2021 and 563 for 2020.
- Craven County Sheriff's Office: 217 for 2025, 280 for 2024, 371 for 2023, 341 for 2022, 348 for 2021 and 397 for 2020.
- Trent Woods: 3 for 2023, 9 for 2021, 9 for 2020 and 15 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,444 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,444 in 2025 against 4,627 in 2024, down 4 percent.
Through July 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,259 arrests, against 2,457 in the same months of 2025.
Trent Woods reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Craven County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Craven 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 290 people, up from about 290 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 292 beds, and it ran at 102 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Craven County Sheriff's Office at gis.cravencountync.gov/images/activebookings.html (page title: Active Bookings), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was 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.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction lists its inmates at dac.nc.gov/dac-services/criminal-offender-searches.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Craven County
An arrest in Craven County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Craven County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Craven 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/craven-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 Craven 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 Craven County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in New Bern, Havelock, Trent Woods, River Bend, Vanceboro or Bridgeton: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Craven County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/craven-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at cravencountync.gov (page title: Public Records Requests | Craven County).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Craven County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the eight cities in Craven County: New Bern, Havelock, Trent Woods, River Bend, Vanceboro and Bridgeton. Cove City and Dover 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 Craven County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Craven County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Craven County each year?
Vanceboro reported 1,153 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,444 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Craven County?
Look on the custody page of the Craven County Sheriff's Office at gis.cravencountync.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Craven County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Craven County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Craven County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Craven 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 Craven County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Craven 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at cravencountync.gov.
Is this the official Craven 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.