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 26, 2026.
North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in Horry County, has about 21,000 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 Horry 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 Myrtle Beach public records, Horry County arrest records, South Carolina arrest records and South Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in North Myrtle Beach
The FBI lists North Myrtle Beach with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as North Myrtle Beach Police Department. It reported 1,661 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 Horry County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 137 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Horry County: Horry County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Horry County Forestry Commission, the Department of Natural Resources in Horry County, the Horry County State Transport Police and one more (state agency); the Highway Patrol in Horry County (state police); Coastal Carolina University (campus police).
How Many Arrests North Myrtle Beach 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 Myrtle Beach: 1,661 for 2025, 1,666 for 2024, 1,894 for 2023, 1,718 for 2022, 1,594 for 2021 and 1,321 for 2020.
North Myrtle Beach's 1,661 arrests in 2025 were down 0.3 percent from 1,666 in 2024.
Through July 2026, North Myrtle Beach reported 1,034 arrests, against 1,016 in the same months of 2025.
Across Horry County, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 16,754 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in North Myrtle Beach Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in North Myrtle Beach 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 2023 the jail held about 770 people, down from about 770 in 2018. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 1,034 beds, and it ran at 74 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 Horry County Sheriff's Office at horrycountysc.gov/departments/sheriffs-office/detention-center/book... (page title: Booking & Releases | Horry County SC.Gov), phone 843-915-6911, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 South Carolina Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.sc.gov/inmate-search-disclaimer.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in North Myrtle Beach
An arrest in North Myrtle Beach can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Horry County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the Solicitor, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at horrycountysc.gov/departments/solicitor, phone (843) 915-5460).
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 Myrtle Beach
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Myrtle Beach police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at nmbsc.justfoia.com/publicportal (page title: North Myrtle Beach, SC Public Portal | JustFOIA), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Horry County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 843-915-6911.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Solicitor, (843) 915-5460, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Horry County guide covers every agency in the county: Horry County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in North Myrtle Beach each year?
North Myrtle Beach reported 1,661 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in North Myrtle Beach?
Look on the custody page of the Horry County Sheriff's Office at horrycountysc.gov, or call 843-915-6911. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in North Myrtle Beach booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Horry County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in North Myrtle Beach?
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 Myrtle Beach?
From the agency that made the arrest: the North Myrtle Beach police for its own arrests, the Horry 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 Myrtle Beach 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.