Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in Orange County, has about 64,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Orange County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Chapel Hill public records, Orange County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Chapel Hill
The FBI lists Chapel Hill with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Chapel Hill Police Department. It reported 677 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Orange County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 595 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Orange County: the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (campus police); North Carolina Memorial Hospital (other).
How Many Arrests Chapel Hill Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Chapel Hill: 677 for 2025, 554 for 2024, 496 for 2023, 323 for 2022, 311 for 2021 and 536 for 2020.
Chapel Hill's 677 arrests in 2025 were up 22 percent from 554 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Chapel Hill reported 488 arrests, against 474 in the same months of 2025.
Across Orange County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,731 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Chapel Hill Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Chapel Hill and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 92 people, down from about 140 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 129 beds, and it ran at 109 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Orange County Sheriff's Office at ocsonc.com (page title: Orange County Sheriff's Office, NC), phone (919) 245-2900, 106 E. Margaret Lane, Hillsborough, NC 27278, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction lists its inmates at dac.nc.gov/dac-services/criminal-offender-searches.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Chapel Hill
For Chapel Hill the place to look is the case index of the Orange County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at nccourts.gov/locations/orange-county, phone 919-644-4570).
Statewide, eCourts Portal is the North Carolina Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
North Carolina does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Chapel Hill
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the North Carolina Public Records Act the agency must answer as promptly as possible; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
- An arrest by the agency that reports for Chapel Hill: its own records unit.
- An arrest by the Orange County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (919) 245-2900.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Orange County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/orange-county, phone 919-644-4570.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at orangecountync.gov (page title: Online Public Records Request | Orange County, NC).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Orange County guide covers every agency in the county: Orange County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Chapel Hill each year?
Chapel Hill reported 677 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Chapel Hill?
Ask the Orange County Sheriff's Office at (919) 245-2900; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at ocsonc.com.
Where are people arrested in Chapel Hill booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Orange County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Chapel Hill?
The court files of criminal cases in the Orange County Superior Court are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the North Carolina Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Chapel Hill?
From the agency that made the arrest: the agency that reports for Chapel Hill for its own arrests, the Orange County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the North Carolina Public Records Act the answer is due as promptly as possible; the statute sets no number of days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at orangecountync.gov.
Is this the official Chapel Hill website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.