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.
Madison County, North Carolina, has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Madison 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 Madison 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: Madison County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Madison County
The Madison County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Madison County. It reported 280 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Madison County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Mars Hill, 2,208 residents: 69 arrests reported for 2019.
- Marshall, 812 residents: 1,153 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hot Springs, 543 residents: 1,153 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 Madison 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.
- Hot Springs: 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.
- Marshall: 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.
- Madison County Sheriff's Office: 280 for 2025, 349 for 2024, 413 for 2023, 396 for 2022, 501 for 2021 and 443 for 2020.
- Mars Hill: 69 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,586 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,586 in 2025 against 2,675 in 2024, down 3.3 percent.
Through August 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,579 arrests, against 1,751 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Madison County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Madison 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 73 people, up from about 60 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 76 beds, and it ran at 79 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 Madison County Sheriff's Office at sheriffrandytucker.com/madison-county-detention-center (page title: Madison County Detention Center | Madison County Sheriff's Department), 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 Madison County
For Madison County the place to look is the case index of the Madison 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/madison-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 Madison 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 Madison County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Mars Hill, Marshall or Hot Springs: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Madison County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/madison-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at madisoncountync.gov (page title: Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Madison County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the three cities in Madison County: Mars Hill, Marshall and Hot Springs.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Madison County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Madison County each year?
Hot Springs reported 1,153 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,586 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Madison County?
Ask the Madison County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriffrandytucker.com.
Where are people arrested in Madison County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Madison County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Madison County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Madison 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 Madison County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Madison 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at madisoncountync.gov.
Is this the official Madison 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.