Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. 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 September 25, 2026.
Harrisburg, North Carolina, in Cabarrus County, has about 20,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). 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 Cabarrus County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it.
This guide covers who makes arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Harrisburg public records, Cabarrus County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Harrisburg
The FBI lists no arrest reporting agency under the name of Harrisburg. In Cabarrus County the county agency that reports arrests is the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Harrisburg Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Harrisburg 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 330 people, up from about 310 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 665 beds, and it ran at 47 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office at cabarruscounty.us/Government/Departments/Sheriffs-Office-Old/Detent... (page title: Find an Inmate Cabarrus County), 65 Church St S Concord, NC 28025, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, whose inmate locator is at dac.nc.gov/dac-services/criminal-offender-searches.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Harrisburg
Whether someone was arrested in Harrisburg, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Cabarrus 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/cabarrus-county); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at nccourts.gov/news/tag/general-news/governor-cooper-appoints-distric..., phone (704) 262-5500).
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 Harrisburg
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Harrisburg police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at ncdps.gov/contact/public-records-request/links-various-online-publi... (page title: Links to various online public records | NC DPS), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (704) 262-5500, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Cabarrus County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/cabarrus-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Cabarrus County guide covers every agency in the county: Cabarrus County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Harrisburg?
Look on the custody page of the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office at cabarruscounty.us. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Harrisburg booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Harrisburg?
The court files of criminal cases in the Cabarrus 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 Harrisburg?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the North Carolina Public Records Act the answer is due as promptly as possible; the statute sets no number of days.
Is this the official Harrisburg 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.