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.
Wilkes County, North Carolina, has about 66,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office and two city 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 Wilkes 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: Wilkes County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Wilkes County
The Wilkes County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Wilkes County. It reported 624 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Wilkes County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- North Wilkesboro, 4,412 residents: 327 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wilkesboro, 3,620 residents: 285 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 Elkin Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Wilkes County, so its arrests are not broken out for Wilkes County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Wilkes 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.
- Wilkes County Sheriff's Office: 624 for 2025, 1,405 for 2024, 1,176 for 2023, 752 for 2022, 661 for 2021 and 665 for 2020.
- North Wilkesboro: 327 for 2025, 382 for 2024, 399 for 2023, 374 for 2022, 287 for 2021 and 230 for 2020.
- Wilkesboro: 285 for 2025, 239 for 2024, 243 for 2023, 227 for 2022, 301 for 2021 and 319 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,236 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 612 in 2025 against 621 in 2024, down 1.4 percent.
Through May 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 470 arrests, against 549 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Wilkes County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Wilkes 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 170 people, down from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 240 beds, and it ran at 73 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 Wilkes County Sheriff's Office at wilkescounty.net/152/Jail (page title: Jail | Wilkes County, NC), phone 336-903-7623, 502 Courthouse Drive Wilkesboro, NC 28697, 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 Wilkes County
For Wilkes County the place to look is the case index of the Wilkes 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/wilkes-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 Wilkes County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Wilkes County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 336-903-7623.
- An arrest in North Wilkesboro or Wilkesboro: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Wilkes County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/wilkes-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at wilkescounty.net/495/Public-Records-Requests (page title: Public Records Requests | Wilkes County, NC).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Wilkes County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Wilkes County: North Wilkesboro and Wilkesboro. Ronda 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 Wilkes County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Wilkes County each year?
The Wilkes County Sheriff's Office reported 624 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,236 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Wilkes County?
Ask the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office at 336-903-7623; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at wilkescounty.net/152/Jail.
Where are people arrested in Wilkes County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Wilkes County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Wilkes County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Wilkes 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 Wilkes County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Wilkes 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 wilkescounty.net/495/Public-Records-Requests.
Is this the official Wilkes 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.