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 between September 23, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
McDowell County, North Carolina, has about 45,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the McDowell County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and two state 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 McDowell 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: McDowell County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in McDowell County
The McDowell County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for McDowell County. It reported 1,036 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Marion, 7,534 residents: 786 arrests reported for 2025.
- Old Fort, 833 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.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in McDowell County: the State Park Rangers at Lake James and the State Park Rangers at Bob's Creek State Natural Area (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in McDowell County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Old Fort: 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.
- McDowell County Sheriff's Office: 1,036 for 2025, 1,048 for 2024, 1,017 for 2023, 1,187 for 2022, 1,280 for 2021 and 1,205 for 2020.
- Marion: 786 for 2025, 727 for 2024, 753 for 2023, 701 for 2022, 609 for 2021 and 571 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,975 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,975 in 2025 against 2,938 in 2024, up 1.3 percent.
Through May 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,241 arrests, against 1,286 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in McDowell County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in McDowell 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 100 people, down from about 140 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 130 beds, and it ran at 107 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the McDowell County Sheriff's Office at mcdowellsheriff.com (page title: McDowell County NC Inmate Search, Arrests, Records), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 McDowell County
An arrest in McDowell County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the McDowell County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the McDowell 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/mcdowell-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 McDowell 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 McDowell County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Marion or Old Fort: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the State Park Rangers at Lake James or the State Park Rangers at Bob's Creek State Natural Area: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the McDowell County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/mcdowell-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in McDowell County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in McDowell County: Marion and Old Fort.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the McDowell County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in McDowell County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Marion (7,534)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in McDowell County each year?
Old Fort reported 1,153 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,975 between them.
Where are people arrested in McDowell County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the McDowell County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in McDowell County?
The court files of criminal cases in the McDowell 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 McDowell County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the McDowell 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 McDowell 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.