Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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). In North Carolina the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of Superior Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Johnston County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests, directory links and common questions.
Related guides: Johnston County public records, Johnston County arrest records, Johnston County warrants, Johnston County court records, Johnston County police reports, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Johnston County Superior Court
A criminal case from Johnston County is filed in the Johnston County Superior Court or the District Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, divorces, child custody, small claims and civil cases up to $25,000, and the court file, kept by the Clerk of Superior Court, is the record of it that the public may see.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at nccourts.gov/locations/johnston-county (page title: Johnston County | North Carolina Judicial Branch), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, eCourts Portal is the North Carolina Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
The North Carolina Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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 file in the Johnston County Superior Court is the public record.
To see your own record, the route is a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation. Statewide court records are the public route: the Clerk of Superior Court sells certified criminal record checks. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at nccourts.gov/help-topics/court-records/criminal-background-check.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Johnston County
The Johnston County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Clayton, Smithfield, Selma, Benson, Wilson's Mills, Four Oaks and three more cities keep the arrest records in Johnston County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
Together, the nine agencies in Johnston County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,761 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Johnston County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Johnston County in 2025
The eight agencies in Johnston County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 340 violent and 2,638 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,978 crimes in 2025 against 2,952 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Johnston County public records guide.
The District Attorney for Johnston County
Charges in Johnston County are filed by the District Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Johnston County Superior Court or the District Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at johnstonnc.gov/content.cfm?id=79 (page title: Find the District Attorney's Office | Johnston County Government | Johnston County, North Carolina), 125 S. Second Street Smithfield, NC 27577, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Johnston County
Registered sex offenders living in Johnston County are listed on the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry, run by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at sexoffender.ncsbi.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online; the county sheriff registers them.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Johnston County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the North Carolina Public Records Act a county office must answer a request as promptly as possible; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
More Official Criminal Records Pages for Johnston County
The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Johnston County and North Carolina. These criminal records pages from its Johnston County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:
- North Carolina Offender Registry (sexoffender.ncsbi.gov)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Johnston County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at nccourts.gov/locations/johnston-county (page title: Johnston County | North Carolina Judicial Branch). Statewide, eCourts Portal is the North Carolina Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
How do I get my own North Carolina criminal history?
Through a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Who prosecutes crimes in Johnston County?
The District Attorney, which files its cases in the Johnston County Superior Court or the District Court.
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.