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.
Wayne County, North Carolina, has about 120,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, five 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 Wayne 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: Wayne County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Wayne County
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Wayne County. It reported 993 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists five cities in Wayne County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Goldsboro, 34,629 residents: 819 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mount Olive, 4,498 residents: 12 arrests reported for 2025.
- Fremont, 1,207 residents: 1,153 arrests reported for 2025.
- Walnut Creek, 1,103 residents: 1,153 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pikeville, 729 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 Wayne County: Cherry Hospital and the State Park Rangers at Cliffs of the Neuse (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Wayne 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.
- Pikeville: 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.
- Walnut Creek: 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.
- Fremont: 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.
- Wayne County Sheriff's Office: 993 for 2025, 1,190 for 2024, 1,097 for 2023, 1,033 for 2022, 1,257 for 2021 and 1,272 for 2020.
- Goldsboro: 819 for 2025, 681 for 2024, 618 for 2023, 626 for 2022, 629 for 2021 and 895 for 2020.
- Mount Olive: 12 for 2025, 10 for 2024, 10 for 2023, 13 for 2022, 14 for 2021 and 9 for 2020.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,283 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,283 in 2025 against 5,370 in 2024, down 1.6 percent.
Through August 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,712 arrests, against 3,025 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Wayne County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Wayne 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 340 people, down from about 370 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 421 beds, and it ran at 88 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 Wayne County Sheriff's Office at waynegov.com/371/Detention-Center (page title: Detention Center | Wayne County, NC), phone 919-731-1660, 207 E Chestnut Street Goldsboro, NC 27530, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Wayne County
For Wayne County the place to look is the case index of the Wayne 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/wayne-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 Wayne 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 Wayne County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 919-731-1660.
- An arrest in Goldsboro, Mount Olive, Fremont, Walnut Creek or Pikeville: 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 Cherry Hospital or the State Park Rangers at Cliffs of the Neuse: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Wayne County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/wayne-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at waynegov.com (page title: Form Center, Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Wayne County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the six cities in Wayne County: Goldsboro, Mount Olive, Fremont, Walnut Creek and Pikeville. Seven Springs has 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 Wayne County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Wayne County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Goldsboro (34,629)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Wayne County each year?
Pikeville reported 1,153 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,283 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Wayne County?
Ask the Wayne County Sheriff's Office at 919-731-1660; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at waynegov.com/371/Detention-Center.
Where are people arrested in Wayne County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Wayne County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Wayne County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Wayne 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 Wayne County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Wayne 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 waynegov.com.
Is this the official Wayne 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.