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). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Haywood County is held at the county jail, run by the Haywood 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: Haywood County public records, Haywood County arrest records, Haywood County warrants, Haywood County criminal records, Haywood County court records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Haywood County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Haywood County is held at the county jail, run by the Haywood County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
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.
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 (828) 356-2864.
The Haywood County Jail by the Numbers
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.
Haywood County has about 63,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 16 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Haywood County Jail
The Haywood County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Waynesville, Canton and Maggie Valley make the arrests that end in a booking in Haywood County.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Haywood County Sheriff's Office's 1,157 for 2025, Waynesville's 940 for 2025 and Canton's 315 for 2024.
Together, the three agencies in Haywood County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,232 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 Haywood 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 Haywood 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 Haywood County?
Ask the Haywood County Sheriff's Office at (828) 356-2864; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at haywoodncsheriff.com/detention-center.
How many people are in the Haywood County jail?
About 98 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 149 beds.
What is the phone number for the Haywood County jail?
(828) 356-2864, the number on the page of the Haywood County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Haywood 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 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.