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 September 26, 2026.
Hillsborough, North Carolina, in Orange County, has about 9,800 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: Hillsborough public records, Orange County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Hillsborough
The FBI lists Hillsborough with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Hillsborough Police Department. It reported 197 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 Hillsborough Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Hillsborough: 197 for 2025, 230 for 2024, 226 for 2023, 275 for 2022, 315 for 2021 and 326 for 2020.
Hillsborough's 197 arrests in 2025 were down 14 percent from 230 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Hillsborough reported 208 arrests, against 113 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 Hillsborough Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hillsborough is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
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.
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 Hillsborough
For Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough
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 Hillsborough police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at hillsboroughnc.gov/Home/Components/ServiceDirectory/ServiceDirector... (page title: Police Records | Service Directory List | Town of Hillsborough, North Carolina), phone 919-296-9500, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Orange County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- 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 Hillsborough each year?
Hillsborough reported 197 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Hillsborough 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 Hillsborough?
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 Hillsborough?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hillsborough police 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 Hillsborough 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.