Halifax County Arrest Records

Halifax County arrest records are official law enforcement records documenting arrests made in the county. Most arrests that occur in Halifax County are made by the Sheriff’s Office and the various police departments in the county. However, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol as well as federal law enforcement agencies can also conduct arrests in Halifax. People arrested in the county are kept at local jails as well as state and federal detention facilities depending on the arresting agency. When they are charged to court, arrest records may be included with Halifax County court records generated during the resulting cases.

Are Arrest Records Public in Halifax County?

Yes. The North Carolina Public Records law makes Halifax County arrest records available to the public unless for those records containing confidential information. Arrest documents removed from public access include:

• Juvenile arrest records
• Sealed and expunged arrest records
• Arrest records containing restricted pretrial information
• Arrest records containing confidential details that may interfere with ongoing investigations

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

An arrest record describes the circumstances of an arrest and is prepared during the booking process. This official record provides the following details:

• Arrestee’s name, age, gender, and other identifying descriptors
• Arrestee’s mugshot
• Name of the officer and agency that made the arrest
• Arrest charge and category of the offense
• Location of the arrest
• Time and date of arrest

Halifax County Arrest Statistics

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation publishes annual crime and arrest data for all counties in the state. Its 2023 report shows that law enforcement made 1,324 arrests in Halifax County in that year. This figure includes 31 juvenile arrests. In contrast, there were 1,470 (27 juvenile) arrests in the county in 2022. Incarceration data for Halifax County are unavailable from local law enforcement and detention facilities. However, the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections (NC DAC) mentions the number of Halifax arrestees in state prisons in its reports. The agency’s 2021-2022 report confirms that there were a total of 940 persons who were arrested and convicted in Halifax County serving time in state prisons or under its Division of Community Supervision.

Find Halifax County Arrest Records

You can locate Halifax County arrestees by visiting the law enforcement agency holding them. Most of these provide online search tools for looking up inmates. The Halifax County Detention Center, for example, offers a freely available inmate search on the website of the Sheriff’s Office. Halifax County arrestees held in facilities controlled by the NC DAC can be found with the agency’s Offender Search. If the arresting agency is a federal law enforcement unit, the arrestee or inmate is most likely held in a detention facility operated by the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and can, therefore, be found with the agency’s inmate locator tool.

Free Arrest Record Search in Halifax County

County, state, and federal law enforcement and correctional agencies offer free search tools for locating arrestees and finding their records. The key ones are the inmate/offender search/locator tools mentioned above. Besides these, there are third-party record finders offering free Halifax County arrest record searches. These websites query the same official databases but save you the time spent locating their search tools and navigating their interface. Besides convenience, third-party arrest record finders are useful when you are not certain where the Halifax County arrestee you seek is being held. However, free searches may produce limited details in their results and you may need to confirm these results with records from official sources.

Halifax County Arrest Records Vs. Criminal Records

In Halifax County, an arrest record is a documentation of an arrest event comprising the apprehension, booking, and detention of a named individual. In contrast, a criminal record is an individual’s criminal record including all criminal arrests, charges, prosecutions, and incarcerations. While local law enforcement agencies in Halifax County can provide arrest records, they could only provide limited criminal records. For a complete Halifax County criminal record, you must submit a request for a background check to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

Unless expunged, an arrest will stay on your record in Halifax County. North Carolina allows law enforcement and correctional agencies to set their own retention records. Therefore, an arrest record made by a local law enforcement agency in Halifax County may be deleted after some time but copies of the record are likely available from other sources such as the State Bureau of Investigation, which holds on to arrest records related to convictions for 50 years.

Expunge Halifax County Arrest Records

To expunge a Halifax County arrest record, you should:

• Check that you qualify for record expunction
• Complete a petition and gather supporting documents
• File this petition with the Clerk of the Halifax County Superior Court
• Wait for the court to review the petition
• Receive a court order if the expungement is granted

The State of North Carolina sets some conditions for records expungement. To be eligible for this legal action, the charges brought as a result of the arrest must be dismissed or you must be found not guilty of the offense for which you were arrested. If convicted, you must wait 5 years (for a misdemeanor offense) or 10 years (for a felony) before petitioning to have the record expunged. An expungement can also be granted if you received a pardon from the governor of the state for the offense or have completed the recommended sentencing alternative (such as substance abuse program).

To start the filing process, download, complete, and notarize the right records expungement form. SubmIt this, along with applicable supporting documents such as related acquittal order or governor’s pardon, to the Office of the Clerk of the Halifax County court where the case was heard. You will also be required to pay a filing fee of $175.

Halifax County Arrest Warrants

In Halifax County, arrest warrants are issued by courts and authorized by judges following requests from local law enforcement agencies. An arrest warrant is a notice to bring in a person suspected of committing a crime or a person of interest in an active investigation. To obtain a warrant for the arrest of an individual, law enforcement officers must provide the authorizing judge with probable cause. Once issued, the information on a Halifax County arrest warrant include:

• Name of the individual to be arrested
• Arrest charge or probable cause
• Judge’s signature and name
• Court where the named individual must appear
• Date of issue

Do Halifax County Arrest Warrants Expire?

No. It is not possible to wait out a Halifax County arrest warrant. An arrest warrant issued in North Carolina remains enforceable until the subject is arrested or the warrant cleared.