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.
Vance County, North Carolina, has about 42,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Vance County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and one state agency. 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 Vance 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: Vance County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Vance County
The Vance County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Vance County. It reported 907 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Vance County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Henderson, 14,807 residents: 833 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 one more agency in Vance County: the State Park Rangers at Kerr Lake (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Vance 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.
- Vance County Sheriff's Office: 907 for 2025, 1,096 for 2024, 939 for 2023, 969 for 2022, 1,063 for 2021 and 836 for 2020.
- Henderson: 833 for 2025, 805 for 2024, 938 for 2023, 813 for 2022, 772 for 2021 and 895 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,740 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,740 in 2025 against 1,901 in 2024, down 8.5 percent.
Through June 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 830 arrests, against 791 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Vance County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Vance 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 170 people, up from about 150 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Vance County Sheriff's Office at vancecountysheriff.org/detention-center (page title: DETENTION CENTER | vancecountysheriff), phone 252-438-3923, 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 Vance County
For Vance County the place to look is the case index of the Vance 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/vance-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 Vance 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 Vance County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 252-438-3923.
- An arrest in Henderson: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park Rangers at Kerr Lake: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Vance County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/vance-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Vance County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Vance County: Henderson. Kittrell and Middleburg have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Vance County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Vance County each year?
The Vance County Sheriff's Office reported 907 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,740 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Vance County?
Ask the Vance County Sheriff's Office at 252-438-3923; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at vancecountysheriff.org/detention-center.
Where are people arrested in Vance County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Vance County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Vance County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Vance 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 Vance County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Vance 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 Vance 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.