Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 24, 2026 and September 28, 2026.
North Charleston, South Carolina, in Charleston County, has about 126,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Solicitor files charges, a case in the Charleston County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: North Charleston public records, Charleston County arrest records, South Carolina arrest records and South Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in North Charleston
The FBI lists North Charleston with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as North Charleston Police Department. It reported 3,193 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Charleston County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,250 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Charleston County: the Highway Patrol in Charleston County (state police); Medical University of South Carolina, The Citadel, Trident Technical College and the College of Charleston (campus police); the State Ports Authority, the Charleston County State Transport Police, the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Charleston County, Charleston County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and two more (state agency); the Charleston County Aviation Authority (other).
How Many Arrests North Charleston Reports
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.
- North Charleston: 3,193 for 2025, 3,316 for 2024, 3,322 for 2023, 2,937 for 2022, 3,432 for 2021 and 4,187 for 2020.
North Charleston's 3,193 arrests in 2025 were down 3.7 percent from 3,316 in 2024.
Through July 2026, North Charleston reported 1,992 arrests, against 1,818 in the same months of 2025.
Across Charleston County, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 12,405 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in North Charleston Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in North Charleston 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 1,080 people, up from about 1,060 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,693 beds, and it ran at 58 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 Charleston County Sheriff's Office at charlestoncounty.gov/departments/sheriff/law-enforcement.php (page title: Charleston County Sheriff's Office: Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center | Chain of Command), phone (843) 202-7200, 3841 Leeds Ave., N. Charleston, SC 29405, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9-11:30AM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the South Carolina Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.sc.gov/inmate-search-disclaimer.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in North Charleston
For North Charleston the place to look is the Solicitor, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at expungement.charlestoncounty.gov, phone (843)719-4529).
South Carolina is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the CATCH service lets anyone run a name-based criminal record search online, for $25 a search, through the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in North Charleston
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 South Carolina Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 10 business days, or 20 for records more than two years old, and it may charge search, retrieval and copying at the agency's actual cost.
- An arrest by the North Charleston police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at northcharleston.org/government/city_departments/police/index.php (page title: Welcome to City of North Charleston), phone 843-743-7200, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (843) 202-7200.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Solicitor, (843)719-4529, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Charleston County guide covers every agency in the county: Charleston County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in North Charleston each year?
North Charleston reported 3,193 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in North Charleston?
Ask the Charleston County Sheriff's Office at (843) 202-7200; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at charlestoncounty.gov.
Where are people arrested in North Charleston booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in North Charleston?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division: the CATCH service lets anyone run a name-based criminal record search online, for $25. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in North Charleston?
From the agency that made the arrest: the North Charleston police for its own arrests, the Charleston County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 10 business days, or 20 for records more than two years old.
Is this the official North Charleston website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.