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 4, 2026.
Washington County, North Carolina, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Washington 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 Washington 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: Washington County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Washington County
The Washington County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Washington County. It reported 87 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
One city in Washington County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Plymouth, 3,190 residents: 92 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 Washington County: the State Park Rangers at Pettigrew (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Washington 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.
- Plymouth: 92 for 2025, 175 for 2024, 95 for 2023, 83 for 2022, 180 for 2021 and 193 for 2020.
- Washington County Sheriff's Office: 87 for 2024, 60 for 2023, 131 for 2022, 155 for 2021, 163 for 2020 and 143 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 262 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 262 in 2024 against 155 in 2023, up 69 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Washington County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Washington 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 15 people, down from about 23 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 30 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 custody page of the Washington County Sheriff's Office at washington-nc.com/north-carolina/washington-county (page title: Washington County Sheriff, NC, Jail Inmate Search, Recent Arrests), 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 Washington County
Whether someone was arrested in Washington County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Washington County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Washington County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at nccourts.gov/help-topics/court-records/obtaining-court-records).
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 Washington 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 Washington County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Plymouth: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park Rangers at Pettigrew: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Washington County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Washington County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the three cities in Washington County: Plymouth. Roper and Creswell 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 Washington County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Washington County each year?
Plymouth reported 92 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Washington County sent in full, the two with every month on file reported 262 between them.
Where are people arrested in Washington County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Washington County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Washington County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Washington 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 Washington County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Washington 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 Washington 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.