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.
Yancey County, North Carolina, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Yancey 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 Yancey 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: Yancey County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Yancey County
The Yancey County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Yancey County. It reported 216 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Yancey County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Burnsville, 1,626 residents: 108 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 Yancey County: the State Park Rangers at Mount Mitchell (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Yancey 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.
- Yancey County Sheriff's Office: 216 for 2025, 224 for 2024, 283 for 2023, 255 for 2022, 262 for 2021 and 371 for 2020.
- Burnsville: 108 for 2025, 60 for 2024, 57 for 2023, 74 for 2022, 80 for 2021 and 73 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 324 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 324 in 2025 against 284 in 2024, up 14 percent.
Through March 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 81 arrests, against 83 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Yancey County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Yancey 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 36 people, down from about 38 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 43 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 Yancey County Sheriff's Office at yanceycountysheriff.org/divisions/detention (page title: Yancey County Sheriff's Office), 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 Yancey County
For Yancey County the place to look is the case index of the Yancey 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/yancey-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 Yancey 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 Yancey County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Burnsville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park Rangers at Mount Mitchell: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Yancey County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/yancey-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Yancey County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Burnsville, the one city in Yancey County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Yancey County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Yancey County each year?
The Yancey County Sheriff's Office reported 216 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 324 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Yancey County?
Ask the Yancey County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at yanceycountysheriff.org/divisions/detention.
Where are people arrested in Yancey County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Yancey County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Yancey County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Yancey 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 Yancey County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Yancey 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 Yancey 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.