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.
Macon County, North Carolina, has about 39,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Macon County Sheriff's Office and two 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 Macon 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: Macon County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Macon County
The Macon County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Macon County. It reported 772 arrests for 2023, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists two cities in Macon County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Franklin, 4,362 residents: 335 arrests reported for 2025.
- Highlands, 1,119 residents: 40 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 Macon 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.
- Franklin: 335 for 2025, 379 for 2024, 224 for 2023, 217 for 2022, 257 for 2021 and 230 for 2020.
- Highlands: 40 for 2025, 50 for 2024, 49 for 2023, 62 for 2022, 43 for 2021 and 42 for 2020.
- Macon County Sheriff's Office: 772 for 2023, 721 for 2022, 824 for 2021, 814 for 2020 and 939 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 375 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 375 in 2025 against 429 in 2024, down 13 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 211 arrests, against 258 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Macon County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Macon 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 75 people, down from about 92 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 75 beds, and it ran at 123 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Macon County
For Macon County the place to look is the case index of the Macon 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/macon-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 Macon 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 Macon County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Franklin or Highlands: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Macon County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/macon-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Macon County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Macon County: Franklin and Highlands.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Macon County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Macon County each year?
Franklin reported 335 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 375 between them.
Where are people arrested in Macon County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Macon County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Macon County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Macon 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 Macon County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Macon 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 Macon 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.