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.
Haywood County, North Carolina, has about 63,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Haywood County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Haywood 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: Haywood County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Haywood County
The Haywood County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Haywood County. It reported 1,157 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Waynesville, 10,709 residents: 940 arrests reported for 2025.
- Canton, 4,422 residents: 315 arrests reported for 2024.
- Maggie Valley, 1,742 residents: 135 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 Haywood County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Haywood County Sheriff's Office: 1,157 for 2025, 1,033 for 2024, 1,280 for 2023, 1,271 for 2022, 1,661 for 2021 and 1,577 for 2020.
- Waynesville: 940 for 2025, 862 for 2024, 1,137 for 2023, 1,134 for 2022, 1,266 for 2021 and 1,398 for 2020.
- Maggie Valley: 135 for 2025, 149 for 2024, 142 for 2023, 156 for 2022, 185 for 2021 and 223 for 2020.
- Canton: 315 for 2024, 274 for 2023, 240 for 2022, 284 for 2021, 382 for 2020 and 440 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,232 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,232 in 2025 against 2,044 in 2024, up 9.2 percent.
Through May 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 878 arrests, against 994 in the same months of 2025.
Canton reported only part of 2025 (9 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Haywood County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Haywood County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 98 people, down from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 149 beds, and it ran at 87 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 Haywood County Sheriff's Office at haywoodncsheriff.com/detention-center (page title: Detention Center | Haywood County Sheriff's Office), phone (828) 356-2864, 1620 Brown Avenue Waynesville, NC 28786, Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 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 Haywood County
For Haywood County the place to look is the case index of the Haywood 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/haywood-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 Haywood 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 Haywood County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (828) 356-2864.
- An arrest in Waynesville, Canton or Maggie Valley: 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 Haywood County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/haywood-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Haywood County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the four cities in Haywood County: Waynesville, Canton and Maggie Valley. Clyde has 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 Haywood County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Haywood County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Waynesville (10,709)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Haywood County each year?
The Haywood County Sheriff's Office reported 1,157 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,232 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Haywood County?
Ask the Haywood County Sheriff's Office at (828) 356-2864; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at haywoodncsheriff.com/detention-center.
Where are people arrested in Haywood County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Haywood County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Haywood County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Haywood 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 Haywood County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Haywood 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 Haywood 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.