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 25, 2026.
Mount Airy, North Carolina, in Surry County, has about 11,000 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 Surry 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: Mount Airy public records, Surry County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Mount Airy
The FBI lists Mount Airy with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Mount Airy Police Department. It reported 572 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 Surry County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,105 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Surry County: the State Park Rangers at Pilot Mountain (state agency).
How Many Arrests Mount Airy 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.
- Mount Airy: 572 for 2025, 445 for 2024, 424 for 2023, 785 for 2022 and 737 for 2021.
Mount Airy's 572 arrests in 2025 were up 29 percent from 445 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Mount Airy reported 276 arrests, against 314 in the same months of 2025.
Across Surry County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,030 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Mount Airy Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Mount Airy 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 250 people, up from about 160 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 125 beds, and it ran at 132 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 Surry County Sheriff's Office at co.surry.nc.us/sheriff_office/index.php (page title: Surry County Sheriff Steve C. Hiatt), phone (336) 401-8900, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Mount Airy
For Mount Airy the place to look is the case index of the Surry 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/surry-county).
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 Mount Airy
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 Mount Airy police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at mountairy.org/190/Request-a-Report (page title: Records & Reports | Mount Airy, NC), Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Surry County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (336) 401-8900.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Surry County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/surry-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at surrycountync.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Surry County guide covers every agency in the county: Surry County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Mount Airy each year?
Mount Airy reported 572 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Mount Airy?
Ask the Surry County Sheriff's Office at (336) 401-8900; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at co.surry.nc.us/sheriff_office/index.php.
Where are people arrested in Mount Airy booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Surry County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Mount Airy?
The court files of criminal cases in the Surry 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 Mount Airy?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Mount Airy police for its own arrests, the Surry 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 surrycountync.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Mount Airy 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.