North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Law Enforcement

Jurisdiction and responsibilities

Wildlife law-enforcement officers enforce hunting, inland-fishing and recreational-boating laws and regulations in North Carolina. Their conservation assignment is distinct from the Division of Marine Fisheries’ coastal-fisheries work, although responsibilities and partnerships can meet at waterway boundaries. Specific authorities and assistance powers are governed by statute; a map point does not define the full scope of an officer’s authority.

How the agency is organized

Law enforcement is a specialized function of the Wildlife Resources Commission. Official resources combine field enforcement with hunter and boater education, boating-accident reporting, violation reporting and public-safety outreach. Officers are law-enforcement certified; the Commission’s other professional, licensing and education employees should not all be described as sworn officers.

Agency history and local context

The Commission’s institutional and conservation history belongs to the statewide organization. Individual game lands, boat accesses and field assignments are locations and programs, not separately founded police departments. This profile does not infer a department creation date from the date of a particular game-land acquisition.

Official records and officer resources

The Commission publishes distinct contacts for enforcement regulations, education, licenses and vessel registration. Its public directory lists 919-707-0030 for enforcement-regulation questions and 800-662-7137 for reporting wildlife violations. Public records and accident-information links should be used for their stated purposes; licensing numbers are not emergency dispatch.

FBI data · 2025

The following figures are from the FBI’s 2025 published agency tables. They describe a reporting period, not current staffing or an assessment of agency performance.

Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer downloads, table 81; published agency label: Department of Wildlife. Table_81_Full_time_Law_Enforcement_Employees_by_State_by_State_Tribal_and_Other_Agencies_2025.xlsx

Blank or unavailable values remain “Not published.” Participating agencies and reporting scope vary. Campus figures concern the reporting institution; a city name does not expand them to all local residents. Read the data definitions and limitations.

Sources and review date

Official agency, government and institutional sources are linked below. Contact details and organizational information were reviewed September 24, 2026. Published statistical years are identified separately.

• Enforcement mission and public programs
• Agency background
• Function-specific public contacts
• Wildlife enforcement authorities