Beaufort County Inmate Population Overview
The Beaufort County inmate population is held locally at the Beaufort County Detention Center, a sheriff-operated local confinement facility in Washington. Official research located one Beaufort County jail facility and no separate county annex, regional jail, city jail, state prison, federal prison, ICE detention center, or USMS contract facility inside the county. That means local pretrial custody, short local sentences, attorney visits, jail mail, deposits, and jail phones all run through the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office rather than a web of separate lockups.
The local jail count rises and falls throughout the day. Arrests by deputies, municipal police, state officers, or other agencies can bring a person into the Beaufort County Detention Center. Bond decisions, first appearances, releases, court transports, medical transports, probation holds, and sentence transfers can remove a person from the local count. Once a defendant is sentenced to a North Carolina prison term, the search path changes to the NC DAC Offender Public Information locator. Federal sentences use the BOP locator, and immigration detention uses ICE ODLS.
Beaufort County Inmate Population Statistics
The best Beaufort County inmate population figures come from the sheriff's detention pages, sheriff accomplishments, county food-service procurement records, and the Vera county incarceration trends data identified in the research file. These sources do not all measure the same thing. A jail's rated capacity is a bed count. Average daily population, or ADP, is the average number held during a period. A food-service average is tied to meal planning. Vera's jail population series is a county trend source and should be cited as a trend measure, not as a live roster count.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Rated jail capacity | 85 beds | Sheriff Detention Center page and 2024 jail food-service RFP |
| Target in-house population | 50 or fewer | 2024 Beaufort County jail food-service RFP |
| Average inmates served meals | 59 | 2024 RFP meal-service average |
| Average daily population | 58 | 2024 Sheriff accomplishments |
| Processed and housed | Over 1,623 | 2024 Sheriff accomplishments |
| Vera jail population | 52 | 2024 Vera county CSV, FIPS 37013 |
| Total jail population rate | 200.94 per 100,000 age 15-64 | 2024 Vera county CSV |
The 2024 food-service RFP gives useful operating context. It says the current Beaufort County jail has no on-site kitchen, so meals are prepared and delivered. It also describes an approximate population range of 50 to 85 inmates for meal planning. That range is not a roster. It is still a useful sign that the jail's day-to-day count can move enough that the county could not give a vendor fixed meal counts a full day in advance.
Beaufort County Inmate Population Trends
The long-term Beaufort County inmate population trend shows a higher jail count around 2010 through 2013 and a lower count in the early 2020s. Vera's county series reports 91 in 2010, 81 in 2011, 89 in 2012, and 87 in 2013, each against a listed capacity of 85. Later figures fell into the 50s and low 40s. The sheriff's more recent ADP figures, 60 in 2023 and 58 in 2024, broadly match that newer lower range, though each source uses its own method.
| Year | Jail Population / ADP | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 91 | Vera FIPS 37013; capacity listed as 85 |
| 2014 | 71 | Vera trend series |
| 2019 | 71 | Vera; 630 jail admissions and rate of 264.94 |
| 2021 | 47 | Vera post-2020 series |
| 2022 | 42.5 | Vera post-2020 series |
| 2023 | 52.5 / sheriff ADP 60 | Vera count plus sheriff accomplishments |
| 2024 | 52 / sheriff ADP 58 | Vera count, sheriff ADP, and RFP meal average 59 |
Those numbers suggest the current Beaufort County jail population is usually under the rated bed capacity, but the county's own target is lower than the full bed count. The research file flags this distinction because a jail can be under rated capacity and still above its operating target. Staffing, classification, medical needs, court movement, and housing separation can all affect how an 85-bed facility feels in practice.
Who Makes Up Beaufort County Inmates
The sheriff's official detention page describes the jail population in plain terms: pretrial detainees charged with felony and misdemeanor offenses, plus inmates sentenced to shorter local terms of confinement. Current official county pages do not publish a live gender, race, age, charge-level, or pretrial-versus-sentenced breakdown. Vera's older data gives more detail for 2019, when the county jail population was listed as 71, with 54 in pretrial custody and 17 sentenced.
| 2019 Vera Field | Figure | Use With Care |
|---|---|---|
| Total jail population | 71 | County trend source, not current roster |
| Pretrial custody | 54 | Older demographic field |
| Sentenced custody | 17 | Older demographic field |
| Male jail population | 48 | Older demographic field |
| Female jail population | 13 | Older demographic field |
| Black jail population | 41 | Older demographic field |
| White jail population | 18 | Older demographic field |
People sentenced to state prison are no longer counted as current Beaufort County jail inmates after transfer. Vera separately reported a 2019 state prison population from Beaufort County of 299 people, including 276 male and 23 female. That is a county-of-origin state imprisonment measure. It does not mean those people were held inside the Beaufort County Detention Center.
Laws Governing Beaufort County Jail Records
North Carolina law separates public arrest facts from full investigative files. The Beaufort County inmate population is documented by a sheriff-run jail, but records access also depends on state public-records law, local confinement statutes, court records, and jail inspection rules. Basic booking and arrest facts are often public, while investigative reports, sealed court records, juvenile matters, medical records, safety-sensitive details, and some internal jail material can be limited.
Key Statutes:
N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 132 defines public records and includes the inspection and copying rule in G.S. 132-6.
G.S. 132-1.4 treats many law-enforcement investigative records as nonpublic, but keeps listed arrest information and returned warrants public unless sealed.
G.S. 15A-502 governs photographing and fingerprinting arrested persons in covered cases.
Chapter 153A, Article 10 governs county local confinement facilities and jail custody duties.
NC DHHS Jails and Detention Section conducts semiannual jail inspections under state jail rules and statutes.
Search Beaufort County Inmate Population
The official Beaufort County inmate search is not a public web roster. The sheriff's Detention Center Services page states that Inmate Search is available in the Beaufort County Sheriff NC mobile app only. The same page states Bail Bonding is also app-only and allows users to search inmates and start the bail process. The app is listed by the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office on Apple and by OCV, LLC on Google Play.
- Start at the sheriff's Detention Center Services page and use the official app links.
- Install or open Beaufort County Sheriff NC and select Inmate Search.
- If the issue is bond, use the app's Bail Bonding feature after confirming the person is in local custody.
- If the app does not show the person, call the sheriff's 24-hour line at (252) 946-7111.
- If the person was sentenced to state prison, search NC DAC instead of the county app.
- For federal or immigration custody, use BOP or ICE ODLS, not the county jail app.
The deposit vendor offers a separate practical check. The jail services page says users can go to team3.inmatecanteen.com, select Beaufort County Jail, and search by last name or ID number to make a deposit. That deposit search is not the same as a public jail roster, but it may help confirm an inmate account after custody has been verified.
Beaufort County Roster Search Fields
Because the inmate search is app-only, the official public web pages do not expose a complete Beaufort County jail roster field list or sample profile. The research file therefore treats the county app fields as partly uninspected and uses the deposit vendor fields only as a secondary account-search note.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inmate Search | App feature | App required | Official sheriff page says app-only; individual fields were not visible from web research. |
| Bail Bonding | App feature | App required | Official sheriff page says the feature can search inmates and initiate bail. |
| Last name | Text | Deposit workflow | Team3 Inmate Canteen uses last-name search after selecting Beaufort County Jail. |
| Inmate ID number | Text | Deposit workflow | Also used in mail addressing and deposit account matching. |
The official Beaufort County jail services page is the source for the app-only inmate-search and bail-bonding finding. The screenshot from that source shows the jail services layout and the detention topics that support the local lookup path.
The app-only design is why a failed web search should not be read as proof that a person is not in Beaufort County custody.
State and Federal Inmate Search
Beaufort County jail custody is only one part of the inmate population path. The NC DAC offender search covers active inmates, probationers, parolees, and inactive state records. The NC DAC release search can search by release county, year, month, or name. Federal inmates incarcerated from 1982 to present are searched through the BOP inmate locator. Immigration detention is searched through ICE ODLS, usually by A-number and country of birth or exact biographical details.
| Custody Type | Search Tool | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Local pretrial or short sentence | Beaufort County Sheriff NC app | Current local jail status when visible in the official app. |
| Sentenced North Carolina prisoner | NC DAC Offender Public Information | State prison and supervision records. |
| Released state prisoner | NC DAC release search | Release county, year, month, and name search. |
| Federal sentenced prisoner | BOP locator | Federal inmates from 1982 to present. |
| Immigration detainee | ICE ODLS | ICE detainee location when searchable. |
| Notifications | VINELink | Custody and release alerts where supported. |
What Beaufort County Inmate Records Show
A Beaufort County app profile could not be inspected from the browser. For that reason, the safest public-record wording is narrow: the sheriff advertises current inmate status through the app, bail bonding through the app, and deposit account search by last name or ID number through Team3 Inmate Canteen. Court dates and formal charges should be checked through NC eCourts Portal and the Beaufort County courthouse, not inferred from the jail app alone.
- Booking
- Jail intake after arrest, including identity checks, property, fingerprints, and a booking photo when required.
- Pretrial detainee
- A person held before final case disposition.
- Sentenced inmate
- A person serving a sentence after conviction or judgment.
- Detainer
- A hold or notice from another agency that may affect release.
- NC DAC
- North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, the state prison and supervision agency.
Beaufort County Detention Facilities
The facility map resolves to one local detention facility. The Beaufort County Detention Center is the jail for local custody, pretrial detainees, and short local sentences. No official source located a Beaufort County state prison, federal prison, ICE detention center, regional jail, or separate city jail with its own public inmate population.
- Beaufort County Detention Center - sheriff-operated 85-bed county jail for local pretrial custody and short terms.
The NC DAC prison facilities list is useful for confirming that state prison custody is separate from the Beaufort County jail.
A person who leaves the local jail for a state sentence may next appear in a statewide DAC facility record, not on a Beaufort County facility page.
Beaufort County Inmate Population FAQ
How large is the Beaufort County inmate population?
Recent sources put the jail population below the 85-bed rating. The sheriff reported 2024 ADP of 58, the 2024 RFP reported an average of 59 inmates served meals, and Vera reported a 2024 jail population of 52.
Does Beaufort County have a web jail roster?
No official public web roster was located. The sheriff's Detention Center Services page states that Inmate Search is available through the Beaufort County Sheriff NC app only.
Who runs the Beaufort County jail?
The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office operates the Beaufort County Detention Center. Sheriff Scott Hammonds is the elected sheriff, and the official command staff page names Major Jeremy Hewitt and Captain Melissa Satchell in detention leadership roles.
Where are sentenced state prisoners searched?
Use NC DAC Offender Public Information for sentenced North Carolina prison inmates. County jail rules for mail, visits, phones, and deposits do not apply after transfer to a state prison.