It takes about a minute:

1. Open the detainee lookup in your phone or computer browser.
2. Enter the last and first names. A booking number or date range also works.
3. Click the matching entry for the charge, the sentence and the bond.
4. Copy the booking number down. It speeds up any call to staff.

Data reloads once an hour. For help reading a charge or a bond amount, ring Inmate Information at 252-902-2868.

Try these common explanations:

• Paperwork in progress. The hourly refresh could still be catching up.
• Already home. A magistrate may have chosen an unsecured bond or a handover to a trusted adult, or a relative may have paid.
• Spelling. Test variants: a middle name, a nickname, or fewer letters.
• Another agency. A neighboring county may have them, or the state or the federal government.
• Under 18. Minors are sent to a youth center.

Weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., ring 252-902-2850. Nights, weekends and holidays, use 252-902-2913.

The county's adult lockup is the Pitt County Detention Center, 124 New Hope Road, Greenville, NC 27834, 252-902-2850, run by the Sheriff. Ask the desk which housing unit holds your person, such as men's, women's or medical. Staff decide a unit one person at a time.

A person taken in by another county sits in that county's jail, so phone that Sheriff. Federal, ICE and state prison cases are explained further down. Minors are held apart, as the under-18 answer explains.

The detainee lookup lists the charge, the sentence and the bond. A booking photo is a different matter. State law does not clearly open these pictures to the public, so each agency decides. Ask the arresting agency, and try the Sheriff's Office at 252-902-2800.

The public part of an arrest file is short. Think of the person's name, age and address, plus the charge, the hour of arrest and the street where it took place.

• Ask ICE itself for any photo it holds, using its records request form.
• Beyond ICE, federal mugshots are kept private. The U.S. Marshals Service alone may release one, say of a runaway defendant.

VINE is a free alert service for county jails and state prisons. Pick phone, text or email, whichever suits you, for news that a person was freed or sent somewhere else.

• Visit VINELink online.
• Or call 877-627-2826, day or night.

A message can come late. For a firm answer today, ask the jail desk at 252-902-2850.

A magistrate usually chooses the terms, soon after booking. That office sits in the courthouse at 100 W Third St, Greenville, NC 27834, 252-695-7395. Today there are four options:

• Unsecured: a signed bond, with nothing due on the spot.
• Supervised: the person is placed with a trusted adult or group who vows to keep watch.
• Secured: cash, land or a bondsman's guarantee stands behind it.
• Monitored: house arrest with a tracker, always bundled with a secured bond.

A judge alone handles murder, kidnapping and similar top charges. If the charge is violence against a partner or relative, the jail may hold them as many as 48 hours before terms are set. Whoever is still locked up meets a District Court judge within 72 hours. Before you pay anything, call 252-902-2850 to learn where bond is taken.

A bondsman's fee tops out at 15 percent, and you cannot get it back. To check a license, use the insurance department's lookup. For depth, see the bail page. Statewide rules are summarized in our North Carolina bail laws guide.

For anyone in custody now, the lookup shows the charge. When a case opens, the Clerk of Superior Court keeps the file, at the counter on 100 W Third St, Greenville, NC 27834, 252-695-7100. The District Attorney, who picks the charges to pursue, answers on that same main line.

The eCourts search finds a case when you type a name, and displays charges, hearing dates and case events. On the phone, give the full name and birth date.

Yes. A person with too little income may request a lawyer paid by the court, and should do it at the first hearing. The judge decides based on a sworn form listing income. The court can send a bill for part of it afterward.

• The Public Defender for this county: 212 S. Greene Street, Greenville, NC 27834, 252-695-7300.
• The state agency that oversees appointed lawyers, Indigent Defense Services: 919-354-7200.

A private attorney can be hired anytime. Sooner is wiser, since the phones are recorded.

Visiting times and rules shift, so ring the detention center at 252-902-2850 before you leave. Ask about:

• The days and hours that are open.
• Whether you must reserve a time, and how.
• Which photo ID is accepted, and how children are handled.
• Clothes and items that are turned away.

Our visiting guide offers extra tips for a first trip. The jail can cancel any visit without warning.

A balance pays for snacks, toiletries and more. The Sheriff's site includes a Commissary and Trust Fund page. Phone 252-902-2850 to find out which payment routes are open today and what caps apply. Keep the legal name and booking number on hand.

Our deposit guide compares ways to add funds, while the commissary guide lists purchases. Never mail cash.

Pay-Tel Communications runs the phones here. Ask whether your person must place the calls or whether you can call in. Ring 252-902-2850 and ask how an account gets started and what one call costs.

Tablets also send secure messages. The person types to a cell number, and you get a text with a link to start an account. Both can be recorded, so talk through the case only with an attorney. For more, try the phone how-to or the email and text how-to.

Everyday letters are scanned first, so write the address this way:

Pitt County Detention Center
Inmate's name, inmate ID and Facility ID 5159
PO Box 18247
Greensboro, NC 27419

• Put a return address on the envelope along with your first and last names.
• Stay under 10 pages of 8.5 by 11 paper.
• Send a money order or certified check, never cash or a personal check.
• Leave out magazines, books and packages.

A scan is made within a day, and the original is destroyed. An attorney's legal mail goes to 124 New Hope Road, Greenville, NC 27834, marked "Legal Mail". More tips are in our letter-writing guide.

Anything taken at booking is stored until release. To leave or collect items, phone 252-902-2850 and ask about the steps and the hours. Bring photo ID to the detention center, 124 New Hope Road, Greenville, NC 27834.

Ring the detention center at 252-902-2850 and request the facility's health staff. Share the name, the health problem, and any medicine, dose and doctor. Your loved one may also submit a written medical request to the officers on the unit.

In a real emergency, 911 is the number. If your person talks about hurting themselves, tell staff right away.

The Sheriff's Office, 252-902-2800, serves warrants in the county's rural areas, while town and city police serve them in their own limits, like Greenville police at 252-329-4317. Phone them and ask if one exists. Court files are with the Clerk of Superior Court, 252-695-7100, and on the eCourts search. Before surrendering, consult a lawyer. Afterward, call whichever court issued the warrant. The clerk's office is at 100 W Third St, Greenville, NC 27834.

Cases are heard in the courthouse at 100 W Third St, Greenville, NC 27834, 252-695-7100. The clerk's counter is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Small crimes, traffic matters and a felony's first hearings all start in District Court. Superior Court takes over felony trials once a grand jury has handed up its indictment.

Type a name into the state court calendar to see dates. In our court guide, each type of hearing is explained. Some sessions meet in other towns, so ask the clerk where yours is.

The Eastern District of North Carolina covers Pitt, and its federal court sits in Greenville at the United States Courthouse, 201 South Evans Street, Greenville, NC 27858, 252-830-6009. The notice you receive names the building.

1. A federal judge hears from both sides, then orders the person held or freed until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Before trial, the U.S. Marshals Service has custody. The district office, 310 New Bern Avenue, Suite 100, Raleigh, NC 27601, 919-856-4153, can tell you where.
3. The Federal Public Defender, 150 Fayetteville Street, Suite 450, Raleigh, NC 27601, 919-856-4236, provides lawyers to people who cannot pay.
4. After the sentence is handed down, find them by name with the federal inmate finder from the Bureau of Prisons.

Typically:

1. ICE sends a detainer, Form I-247A, issued under 8 CFR 287.7(d).
2. A state law from October 1, 2025 covers people facing a charge. A judicial official can order them kept up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. That gives ICE time to arrive.
3. The ICE Online Detainee Locator wants a name together with a birth country. An A-number printed on immigration papers also works.
4. The nearest field office is listed on ICE's contact page.

To learn if a detainer was received, ask the jail at 252-902-2850.

A sentence to prison hands the case to the Department of Adult Correction. You can check status on the Offender Public Information search. Type a last name or the offender's number. History starts in 1972, and probation and parole are in there too. Someone still held at a county jail will not be listed.

The department answers at 919-733-2126. In some cases a county jail in the state's confinement program holds people serving drunk driving or longer misdemeanor terms. Prison visit hours and mail rules are in our North Carolina prison guide.

A minor is kept away from adult inmates. Juvenile hearings take place in District Court, in the courthouse at 100 W Third St, Greenville, NC 27834, 252-695-7100, and the records stay private.

A child who needs secure custody usually goes to the center nearest home. For Greenville that is Pitt Regional Juvenile Detention Center, 451 Belvoir Road, Greenville, NC 27834, 252-830-6590. A judge must hold a hearing within 5 days, with no waiver.

These are the numbers to try:

• Sheriff's Office, 100 New Hope Rd., Greenville, NC 27834, 252-902-2800. Deputies patrol outside town limits. Communications center: 252-830-4141.
• Greenville Police, 252-329-4317
• Ayden Police, 252-746-7015
• Farmville Police, 252-753-4111
• Grifton Police, 252-524-4161
• Winterville Police, 252-756-1105
• East Carolina University Police, 252-328-6787
• Pitt Community College Police, 252-493-7777
• State Highway Patrol, Troop A, 4651-A North Creek Dr., Greenville, NC 27834, 252-758-5300, District V.