North Carolina's eCourts Portal searches court records statewide, lists hearings by name and county and indexes judgments, with a CAPTCHA every ten minutes; the Department of Adult Correction's offender search reaches back into the records of the former Department of Correction; and the State Board of Elections' voter search returns jurisdictions, polling place, voter history and even voters who were removed or denied. Vital records are not searchable online, by law.
The order to use: the voter search for a current county and voting history, the offender search for custody and supervision, the Portal for cases and judgments, the Medical Board and business registration for livelihood, then the county offices for property, listed on the North Carolina county pages at SearchSystems, with a certified $25 county check from the clerk when a formal criminal record is needed.
- Courts, statewide: the eCourts Portal, Smart Search, hearings by name and county, and the NC Judgment Search.
- Prison, probation and parole: the Department of Adult Correction Offender Public Information search, by name or offender ID, with historical records.
- Voters, registered or removed: the State Board of Elections Voter Search, by name, year of birth and county, with voter history.
- Registered offenders and background checks: the SBI Offender Registry and background checks.
- Licenses, companies, certificates and money: the Medical Board licensee search, business registration, NC Vital Records and NCCASH.
Written by SearchSystems.net from North Carolina's own systems: the North Carolina Judicial Branch, the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the North Carolina Medical Board, the North Carolina Secretary of State, the North Carolina State Board of Elections, North Carolina Vital Records, the North Carolina General Assembly, each read on October 13, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
The eCourts Portal: Smart Search, hearings and judgments
North Carolina's eCourts Portal offers Smart Search for court records and case information, a hearings search by name, county and date range, payments for probation, parole and some criminal and infraction cases, and the NC Judgment Search, an index of judgments kept under G.S. 7A-109(b)(6). The Portal requires cookies, a current browser and, since a Tyler Technologies update, a CAPTCHA challenge every ten minutes for every class of user, and it sends questions about a specific case to the clerk of court in the county where it is assigned or to ecourts@nccourts.org. The Judicial Branch's own background check page says Portal can be searched by name, case number and attorney, but that people performing background checks should use the county clerk's office rather than Portal.
The offender search, with history
The Department of Adult Correction's Offender Public Information search, described on the department's offender searches page, finds up to date information on North Carolina state prison offenders, probationers and parolees by name or offender ID, and its database, from the department and the former Department of Correction, contains historical information as well as current. The department says most offender records, including sentence length and admission and release dates, are available through the search without a public records request. Alongside it, the Automated System Query runs the same database for counts and demographics without identities, and the Interstate Compact tool tracks probationers and parolees transferred to another state. The search page itself delivered only its title to an automated reader.
The SBI registry and background checks
The State Bureau of Investigation's Offender Registry shows residential locations of registered sex offenders, according to the Department of Adult Correction, and its own site answered an automated read with its acceptable use policy and a wall, so the search is on the site. The SBI's background checks page calls the bureau the central repository for criminal information in North Carolina, offering checks to the public and to qualified organizations, with separate paths for personal checks, employers and licensing entities, and background checks on others; when read, its Customer Service Unit at 3320 Garner Road, Raleigh, (919) 582-8660, was processing requests received on September 17, 2026, about four weeks behind. The Judicial Branch describes the SBI's statewide search as a non certified Right to Review of one's own record by fingerprint card.
Certified county checks for $25, and the vendor list
The Judicial Branch's Criminal Background Check page sets out the official routes. A certified criminal record search by name, for yourself or others, is requested from the clerk of superior court in a single county on Form AOC-CR-314 for a $25 fee, by mail with a money order or certified check or in person by card, cash, money order or certified check; it checks only that county's court records. A self service, non certified search of criminal records for yourself or others, in any county or statewide, is free on the public access computers in any clerk's office, with printing charges possible. Third party companies sell unofficial checks built from data the Administrative Office of the Courts licenses to them on an ongoing basis; the AOC says the records it supplies are accurate reflections of the clerks' databases but that it cannot guarantee what the companies then provide is current or accurate, and it publishes the list of licensed companies.
The voter search: registered, removed or denied
The State Board of Elections' Voter Search returns voter details including jurisdictions, polling place, sample ballot when available, absentee ballot information and voter history from a first name, last name, optional middle initial, year of birth and county, with at least one status selected: Registered, or Removed or Denied. No birth date or identifier is required, and the removed status returns people who are no longer on the rolls, which makes it one of the broader name searches any state offers.
The Medical Board licensee search and the Business Registration Division
The North Carolina Medical Board Licensee Search accepts a first name, last name, city, county, state, area of practice, license number, type and status, with valid searches needing the first two characters of a last name plus another criterion, the first three characters of a last name, an area of practice with a city or county, or a status with a city; a roster is also offered. The Secretary of State's Business Registration Division records the creation of business entities and provides the information to the public, with searches by organizational name, by last, first and middle name, and for assumed names, meaning doing business as filings, and for new companies and changes; automated searches are not permitted, bulk data comes through subscription services, and the division warns of vendors charging extra for priority annual report filing. The name search by last, first and middle is the people search entry.
Vital records, by order only
NC Vital Records states that North Carolina vital records are not free, searchable public records under state law and rules, and that certificate records are not available through a search of its website. Birth, death, fetal death, marriage and divorce certificates are purchased through its ordering process, with pages on marriage certificates including a statement of no marriage, divorce certificates, amendments, adoptions, paternity, estimated processing times and research into old records and genealogy.
NCCASH, the ACP and Chapter 132
The Department of State Treasurer's NCCASH holds almost $1.7 billion in unclaimed property, updates its database daily and processes claims in order, normally in about 90 days but longer when read because of unusually high volume; companies must report unclaimed property by November 1 after contacting owners. The Department of Justice's Address Confidentiality Program helps survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking keep abusers from discovering a new address, with more than 1,000 current participants, and Chapter 132 makes program information confidential.
North Carolina's public records law, Chapter 132 of the General Statutes, defines public records as all documentary material made or received in the transaction of public business by any agency of state or local government, declares them the property of the people, available free or at the actual cost of reproduction, and bars political subdivisions from nondisclosure agreements that restrict access. The Judicial Branch's FAQ adds that any person may inspect and copy, that no form or procedure is prescribed, that agencies must allow inspection at reasonable times and furnish copies as promptly as possible, and that they need not answer questions verbally or create records that do not exist.
North Carolina: eCourts, the voter search, $25 checks
North Carolina gives a searcher the voter search for a county and a history, the offender search for custody back through the old department's records, and the Portal for cases and judgments. The Medical Board and business registration tie a name to a license or a company, and a $25 certified county check or a free courthouse terminal supplies the formal criminal record. Deeds and parcels are county records, listed office by office on the North Carolina county pages at SearchSystems.
Paid people search reports on North Carolinians are built from these records, and the AOC itself licenses its court data to such companies while declining to vouch for what they resell; the Portal and the clerk's terminal are where a report is checked.
County Starting Points
Questions about finding someone in North Carolina
Every North Carolina Guide
The full set: arrest records, background checks, inmate search, offender registry, birth certificates, unclaimed property, business search, and the North Carolina records law that opens every door on this list.