Search Arrest, Mugshot & Inmate Records by Name
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New Hanover County, North Carolina · Castle Hayne / Wilmington area · Information reviewed October 27, 2026
Find a New Hanover County Inmate and Verify Current Custody
If you need to know whether someone is currently in the New Hanover County jail, start with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office public Inmate Inquiry. The county operates the New Hanover County Detention Facility at 3950 Juvenile Center Road in Castle Hayne. This is the main county detention facility used for people held in New Hanover County custody.
The fastest approach is to identify the correct inmate in the live roster first, save the booking details you need, and then use the court system only when you need a court date, case filing or updated bond information.
Castle Hayne, NC 28429
How to Search the New Hanover County Jail Roster
You do not need to pay a commercial people-search website to check current county-jail custody. New Hanover County’s public-facing Sheriff-to-Citizen system provides the county’s Inmate Inquiry.
- Open the official Inmate Inquiry. Go to p2c.nhcgov.com/p2c/jailinmates.aspx.
- Use the inmate list or filter. Look for the inmate-list filtering option. Start with the person’s correct legal name rather than a nickname.
- Review possible matches carefully. Compare the available age, arrest date, primary charge, booking agency or other displayed identifiers before assuming you found the right person.
- Open the matching record. Review any available booking, charge, bond, agency or court-related information shown by the live system.
- Save the important identifiers. Write down the exact booked name, arrest or booking date, case information and any inmate identifier shown. These details can help with court searches, mail, deposits and custody questions.
What Information Can the Inmate Inquiry Show?
The exact public fields can change as the Sheriff’s Office updates its P2C system. The current inmate-list interface is designed around live jail and booking information rather than a complete criminal-history report.
| Information | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Inmate name | Confirm the spelling used in the jail system before using other services. |
| Arrest or booking information | Helps distinguish the current custody event from an older case. |
| Primary charge | Shows an allegation associated with the booking; it is not proof of guilt. |
| Booking agency | Identifies the law-enforcement agency connected with the arrest or booking. |
| Bond information, when published | Useful as a starting point, but the amount or conditions can later be changed by a judicial official. |
| Booking photo or identifying details, when available | May help distinguish people with similar names. |
| Court-related information, when displayed | Use it to find the corresponding case in the North Carolina Judicial Branch system. |
A jail roster answers a custody question. It should not be treated as the final source for whether a person was convicted, whether a charge was dismissed or what ultimately happened in court.
If You Cannot Find Someone in the New Hanover County Inmate Search
A missing name does not automatically mean the person was never arrested. Work through the likely explanations before moving to unrelated websites.
| Possible reason | What to do next |
|---|---|
| Arrest happened very recently | Booking, identification, fingerprinting and data entry may still be in progress. Check again later or call the Detention Division at 910-798-4200. |
| Name is entered differently | Try the legal surname alone, then add the first name. Check hyphens, suffixes and alternate spellings. |
| Person was released | The person may have bonded out or otherwise been released before you searched. Check the court case for continuing proceedings. |
| Person was transferred | Check the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction if a sentenced person may have moved to state custody. |
| Arrest occurred outside New Hanover County | Search the jail in the county where the person was actually booked rather than the city where you expected the arrest to occur. |
| Record is restricted or not publicly displayed | Contact the appropriate agency or court rather than assuming there is no record. |
For current custody questions, call 910-798-4200 and have the person’s full legal name, approximate age or date of birth, and approximate arrest date available if you know them.
New Hanover County Detention Facility Location and Contacts
Castle Hayne, NC 28429
Fax: 910-798-4163
The Sheriff’s Office operates one primary county detention facility at the Juvenile Center Road location. County procurement and detention-resource records describe a rated capacity of 672 beds. Capacity is not the same as the number of people in custody today; use the live inmate inquiry for current individual custody information.
How to Check Charges, Bond and a New Hanover County Court Date
Use the jail record first to identify the correct person, then use the North Carolina Judicial Branch for the criminal case. This avoids mixing two people with similar names.
- Find the correct booking in the New Hanover County Inmate Inquiry.
- Write down the exact booked name and any case or charge information displayed.
- Open the North Carolina Judicial Branch — New Hanover County page.
- Use the court-date or public eCourts search available through the Judicial Branch.
- Confirm that the case is filed in New Hanover County and matches the correct defendant.
- If the online record does not answer your question, contact the Clerk of Superior Court.
Wilmington, NC 28401
The courthouse’s published public hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding closures and holidays.
New Hanover County Jail Visitation
The Sheriff’s Detention Division page says visitation is by appointment and scheduled by the inmate. It also references 45-minute visits and visiting periods during afternoon and evening hours.
However, the same official page currently contains multiple sets of visitation language that do not fully agree with one another, including older restrictions that appear to come from an earlier operating period. Because of that conflict, do not rely on an old schedule copied by a third-party website.
Best way to arrange a visit
- Confirm that the person is still in custody.
- Have the inmate arrange the appointment as required by the Detention Division.
- Confirm the date, time and number of permitted visitors before traveling.
- Ask whether minors are currently permitted, because the Sheriff’s published page contains conflicting age-related language.
- Bring approved photo identification and arrive early enough for security screening.
Current verification number: 910-798-4200.
How to Send Mail to a New Hanover County Inmate
New Hanover County changed its ordinary inmate-mail process effective December 1, 2025. The Sheriff’s current instructions route regular inmate correspondence through an offsite mail-processing address.
[Inmate’s ID Number]
New Hanover County Detention Facility
P.O. Box 591
Longview, TX 75606
Current published mail rules
- Include the inmate’s name, inmate ID number and a return address.
- Use standard letter-size white paper.
- The Sheriff’s page says mailed correspondence may contain no more than five pages.
- Mail is scanned on the front side only; writing on the reverse side may cause it to be returned.
- The current instructions allow a maximum of one appropriate original 4-by-6-inch photograph per mailing.
- Greeting cards, card stock, colored paper, cash, stamps, stickers, blank paper, blank envelopes and padded or bubble-wrap envelopes are listed as prohibited.
- Legal and medical mail should not be sent through the ordinary scanning address; obtain the facility’s current direct-mail procedure before sending it.
How to Send Money or Commissary Funds
The Sheriff’s Office currently directs family and friends to McDaniel Supply Company’s JailPackStore for inmate funds and care-package services. Cash deposits may also be made through the automated kiosk in the detention facility’s front lobby.
Online deposit steps
- Confirm the inmate’s identity in the official county roster first.
- Open the JailPackStore linked by the Sheriff’s Office.
- Select the correct facility and inmate.
- Compare the inmate’s name or identifier before paying.
- Review fees and the final amount before submitting the transaction.
- Keep the confirmation or receipt.
The Sheriff’s published information also says money orders should be made payable to New Hanover County with the inmate’s name in the memo section. Because the mail process changed in December 2025, confirm the current routing instructions with the Detention Division before mailing a money order.
Inmate Calls, Release Information and Transfers
Phone calls
The current Sheriff’s Detention Division page includes a phone-services section but does not publish enough current vendor, rate or account-detail information in the public text to safely recommend a specific calling plan. Before purchasing phone credits from a third party, call 910-798-4200 and verify the currently authorized service.
Custody and release notifications
North Carolina’s Statewide Automated Victim Assistance and Notification service, commonly called NC SAVAN, provides custody-status notification services. The Sheriff’s page lists the automated statewide number as 877-627-2826 (877-NCSAVAN).
The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction also describes NC SAVAN as a free service that can provide qualifying custody-status notifications by phone, email, text or TTY.
If the inmate was transferred to state prison
Do not keep searching the New Hanover County jail roster after a person has moved into North Carolina state correctional custody. Use the NC Department of Adult Correction Offender Search.
NCDAC specifically states that its offender locator covers North Carolina state prisoners, probationers and parolees and does not include county-jail inmates.
| If you need to know… | Best source |
|---|---|
| Is the person currently in New Hanover County jail? | New Hanover Sheriff’s Office P2C Inmate Inquiry |
| What booking or charge is listed? | Current inmate record |
| What is the court date or case status? | North Carolina Judicial Branch / New Hanover County Clerk |
| Has bond changed? | Current jail record plus court or magistrate confirmation |
| Has the person moved to state prison? | NC Department of Adult Correction Offender Search |
| Need custody-change notifications? | NC SAVAN |
Official Resources
Other North Carolina Jail Search Guides
New Hanover County Jail Inmate Search FAQs
1. How do I search for an inmate in New Hanover County Jail?
Open the New Hanover Sheriff’s Office P2C Inmate Inquiry, use the inmate list or filtering option, search the person’s legal name and compare the available arrest, charge, booking-agency or identifying information before selecting a record.
2. Is the New Hanover County inmate roster free?
Yes. The Sheriff’s public Inmate Inquiry can be used to check county-jail custody without paying a commercial people-search service.
3. Why is someone who was just arrested not showing in the roster?
The person may still be going through booking and data entry, the name may be entered differently, the person may already have been released, or the arrest may have resulted in custody in another jurisdiction. Retry the search and call 910-798-4200 if current custody remains unclear.
4. What is the New Hanover County Detention Facility address and phone number?
The facility is at 3950 Juvenile Center Road, Castle Hayne, NC 28429. The Detention Division phone number is 910-798-4200.
5. What information can appear in the New Hanover County inmate search?
The public inmate system may display the inmate’s name and available booking, arrest-date, primary-charge, booking-agency, bond, photograph or related custody information. Public fields can change as the Sheriff’s system is updated.
6. How do I check an inmate’s bond or court date?
Identify the correct jail booking first, then use the North Carolina Judicial Branch’s New Hanover County court services to search the case. For unresolved or official-record questions, contact the Clerk of Superior Court at 910-772-6600.
7. How do I visit an inmate at New Hanover County Jail?
The Sheriff’s Detention Division says visitation is by appointment and scheduled by the inmate. Because the official page currently contains conflicting legacy schedule details, confirm the current appointment, visitor limit, age rules and identification requirements at 910-798-4200 before traveling.
8. What address should I use for regular inmate mail?
For ordinary correspondence, use the inmate’s name and ID number followed by New Hanover County Detention Facility, P.O. Box 591, Longview, TX 75606. This mail-processing address took effect December 1, 2025.
9. How can I send money to a New Hanover County inmate?
The Sheriff’s Office links to McDaniel Supply Company’s JailPackStore for online inmate funds and care packages, and a cash-deposit kiosk is available in the facility lobby. Confirm the correct inmate before paying and review any service fee before completing the transaction.
10. Where do I search if the inmate was transferred to North Carolina state prison?
Use the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction Offender Search. The state locator covers state prisoners, probationers and parolees and does not serve as the New Hanover County jail roster.
Before You Rely on a Jail Record
Jail custody, bond and release information can change during the day. Use the live New Hanover County inmate record before traveling to Castle Hayne, sending money, mailing correspondence or arranging a release pickup. A booking or criminal charge is an allegation and does not establish guilt; use the North Carolina court record for the case’s later status and disposition.