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.
Onslow County, North Carolina, has about 213,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Onslow County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and two campus, state or other 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 Onslow 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: Onslow County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Onslow County
The Onslow County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Onslow County. It reported 2,841 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Onslow County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Jacksonville, 70,840 residents: 1,725 arrests reported for 2025.
- Holly Ridge, 5,766 residents: 213 arrests reported for 2025.
- Swansboro, 4,165 residents: 167 arrests reported for 2025.
- Richlands, 2,446 residents: 131 arrests reported for 2025.
- North Topsail Beach, 1,081 residents: 41 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 Surf City Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Onslow County, so its arrests are not broken out for Onslow County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Onslow County: Albert J. Ellis Airport (other); the State Park Rangers at Hammocks Beach (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Onslow 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.
- Onslow County Sheriff's Office: 2,841 for 2025, 1,450 for 2024, 953 for 2023, 539 for 2022, 995 for 2021 and 1,712 for 2020.
- Jacksonville: 1,725 for 2025, 2,121 for 2024, 2,412 for 2023, 1,889 for 2022, 1,883 for 2021 and 2,151 for 2020.
- Holly Ridge: 213 for 2025, 138 for 2024, 144 for 2023, 168 for 2022, 101 for 2021 and 78 for 2020.
- Swansboro: 167 for 2025, 153 for 2024, 180 for 2023, 157 for 2022, 216 for 2021 and 162 for 2020.
- Richlands: 131 for 2025, 131 for 2024, 62 for 2022, 109 for 2021 and 130 for 2020; 2023 is missing months.
- North Topsail Beach: 41 for 2025, 29 for 2023, 124 for 2021 and 229 for 2020; 2022 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,118 arrests that year. The four of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,236 in 2025 against 2,543 in 2024, down 12 percent.
Through April 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,471 arrests, against 1,879 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Onslow County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Onslow 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 360 people, down from about 410 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 528 beds, and it ran at 77 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 Onslow County Sheriff's Office at onslowcountync.gov/1318/Detention-Division (page title: Detention Division | Onslow County, NC), phone (910) 937-1475, 717 Court St Jacksonville, NC 28540, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Onslow County
For Onslow County the place to look is the case index of the Onslow 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/onslow-county, phone 910-478-3604).
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 Onslow 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 Onslow County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (910) 937-1475.
- An arrest in Jacksonville, Holly Ridge, Swansboro, Richlands or North Topsail Beach: 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 Albert J. Ellis Airport or the State Park Rangers at Hammocks Beach: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Onslow County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/onslow-county, phone 910-478-3604.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at onslowcountync.gov/756/Records (page title: Records Request | Onslow County, NC).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Onslow County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the five cities in Onslow County: Jacksonville, Holly Ridge, Swansboro, Richlands and North Topsail Beach.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Onslow County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Onslow County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Jacksonville (70,840)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Onslow County each year?
The Onslow County Sheriff's Office reported 2,841 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,118 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Onslow County?
Ask the Onslow County Sheriff's Office at (910) 937-1475; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at onslowcountync.gov/1318/Detention-Division.
Where are people arrested in Onslow County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Onslow County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Onslow County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Onslow 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 Onslow County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Onslow 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 onslowcountync.gov/756/Records.
Is this the official Onslow 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.