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.
Johnston County, North Carolina, has about 250,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Johnston County Sheriff's Office and nine 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 Johnston 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: Johnston County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Johnston County
The Johnston County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Johnston County. It reported 1,565 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists nine cities in Johnston County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Clayton, 31,732 residents: 464 arrests reported for 2025.
- Smithfield, 12,806 residents: 939 arrests reported for 2025.
- Selma, 7,228 residents: 314 arrests reported for 2025.
- Benson, 4,534 residents: 157 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wilson's Mills, 2,913 residents: 78 arrests reported for 2025.
- Four Oaks, 2,681 residents: 76 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pine Level, 2,347 residents: 15 arrests reported for 2025.
- Kenly, 1,687 residents: 1,153 arrests reported for 2025.
- Princeton, 1,507 residents: 24 arrests reported for 2020.
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 Johnston 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.
- Johnston County Sheriff's Office: 1,565 for 2025, 798 for 2020 and 1,157 for 2019; 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
- Kenly: 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.
- Smithfield: 939 for 2025, 637 for 2024, 569 for 2023, 721 for 2022, 895 for 2021 and 738 for 2020.
- Clayton: 464 for 2025, 335 for 2024, 515 for 2023, 451 for 2022, 470 for 2021 and 488 for 2020.
- Selma: 314 for 2025, 286 for 2024, 275 for 2023, 276 for 2022, 214 for 2021 and 349 for 2020.
- Benson: 157 for 2025, 91 for 2024, 102 for 2023, 128 for 2022, 76 for 2021 and 90 for 2020.
- Wilson's Mills: 78 for 2025, 102 for 2024 and 89 for 2023.
- Four Oaks: 76 for 2025, 99 for 2023, 54 for 2022, 81 for 2021, 90 for 2020 and 138 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- Pine Level: 15 for 2025, 11 for 2024, 14 for 2023, 23 for 2022, 12 for 2021 and 18 for 2020.
- Princeton: 24 for 2020 and 69 for 2019.
Together, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,761 arrests that year. The six of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,181 in 2025 against 1,988 in 2024, up 9.7 percent.
Through July 2026, the seven agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,618 arrests, against 2,696 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Johnston County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Johnston 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 270 people, up from about 220 in 2018. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Johnston County
Whether someone was arrested in Johnston County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Johnston 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/johnston-county); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at johnstonnc.gov/content.cfm?id=79).
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 Johnston 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 Johnston County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Clayton, Smithfield, Selma, Benson, Wilson's Mills, Four Oaks or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Johnston County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/johnston-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Johnston County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for nine of the 11 cities in Johnston County: Clayton, Smithfield, Selma, Benson, Wilson's Mills, Four Oaks, Pine Level, Kenly and Princeton. Archer Lodge and Micro 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 Johnston County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Johnston County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Clayton (31,732)
- Smithfield (12,806)
- Archer Lodge (5,522)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Johnston County each year?
The Johnston County Sheriff's Office reported 1,565 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the nine agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,761 between them.
Where are people arrested in Johnston County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Johnston County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Johnston County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Johnston 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 Johnston County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Johnston 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 Johnston 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.