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 September 30, 2026.
Carter County, Tennessee, has about 57,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Carter County is held at the county jail, run by the Carter County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Carter County public records, Carter County arrest records, Carter County warrants, Carter County criminal records, Carter County court records, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Carter County
The county jail, run by the Carter County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Carter County, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Carter County Sheriff's Office at cartertnsheriff.gov/inmateRoster (page title: Inmate Roster | Carter County Sheriff's Office (TN)), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The Carter County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 250 people, down from about 340 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2024 was 296 beds, and it ran at 85 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Carter County has about 57,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 44 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Carter County Jail
The Carter County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Elizabethton make the arrests that end in a booking in Carter County.
The Johnson City Police Department is listed by the FBI across three counties including Carter County, so its arrests are not broken out for Carter County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Carter County Sheriff's Office's 1,260 for 2025 and Elizabethton's 408 for 2024.
Together, the two agencies in Carter County with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,431 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Carter County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Tennessee Department of Correction lists its inmates at foil.app.tn.gov/foil/search.jsp.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Carter County?
Look on the custody page of the Carter County Sheriff's Office at cartertnsheriff.gov/inmateRoster. It covers people booked into the county jail.
How many people are in the Carter County jail?
About 250 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 296 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Carter County go?
To a facility of the Tennessee Department of Correction; its inmate locator is at foil.app.tn.gov/foil/search.jsp.
Is this the official Carter 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.