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.
Salisbury, North Carolina, in Rowan County, has about 37,000 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 Rowan 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: Salisbury public records, Rowan County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Salisbury
The FBI lists Salisbury with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Salisbury Police Department. It reported 1,454 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 Rowan County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,781 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Salisbury 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.
- Salisbury: 1,454 for 2025, 1,426 for 2024, 1,198 for 2023, 1,177 for 2022, 1,465 for 2021 and 1,518 for 2020.
Salisbury's 1,454 arrests in 2025 were up 2 percent from 1,426 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Salisbury reported 693 arrests, against 906 in the same months of 2025.
Across Rowan County, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,625 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Salisbury Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Salisbury 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 270 people, down from about 360 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 370 beds, and it ran at 99 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Salisbury
For Salisbury the place to look is the case index of the Rowan 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/rowan-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 Salisbury
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 Salisbury police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at p2c.salisburync.gov/maintenance.aspx (page title: Salisbury Police Department P2C), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Rowan County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Rowan County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/rowan-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at rowancountync.gov/642/Public-Records-Requests (page title: Public Records | Rowan County).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Rowan County guide covers every agency in the county: Rowan County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Salisbury each year?
Salisbury reported 1,454 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Salisbury booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Rowan County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Salisbury?
The court files of criminal cases in the Rowan 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 Salisbury?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Salisbury police for its own arrests, the Rowan 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 rowancountync.gov/642/Public-Records-Requests.
Is this the official Salisbury 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.