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.
Dare County, North Carolina, has about 38,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dare County is held at the county jail, run by the Dare 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: Dare County public records, Dare County arrest records, Dare County warrants, Dare County criminal records, Dare County court records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Dare County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Dare County is held at the county jail, run by the Dare County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Dare County Sheriff's Office at darenc.gov/departments/sheriff-s-office (page title: Dare County Sheriff's Office | Dare County, NC), phone 252.475.5980, 962 Marshall C. Collins Drive P.O. Box 757 Manteo, NC 27954, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at 252.475.5980.
The Dare County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 69 people, down from about 98 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 129 beds, and it ran at 51 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Dare County has about 38,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 18 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Dare County Jail
The Dare County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, Southern Shores, Nags Head, Manteo and Duck make the arrests that end in a booking in Dare County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Dare County: the State Park Rangers at Jockey's Ridge (state agency).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Dare County Sheriff's Office's 462 for 2025, Kill Devil Hills's 195 for 2024 and Nags Head's 184 for 2025.
Together, the five agencies in Dare County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 836 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 Dare 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 Dare 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 Dare County?
Ask the Dare County Sheriff's Office at 252.475.5980; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at darenc.gov/departments/sheriff-s-office.
How many people are in the Dare County jail?
About 69 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 129 beds.
What is the phone number for the Dare County jail?
252.475.5980, the number on the page of the Dare County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Dare 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 Dare 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.