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.
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in Forsyth County, has about 256,000 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 Forsyth 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: Winston-Salem public records, Forsyth County arrest records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Winston-Salem
The FBI lists Winston-Salem with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Winston-Salem Police Department. It reported 7,243 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 Forsyth County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,998 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Forsyth County: Triad Municipal Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Enforcement (other); Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem State University and North Carolina School of the Arts (campus police).
How Many Arrests Winston-Salem 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.
- Winston-Salem: 7,243 for 2025, 6,074 for 2024, 6,550 for 2023, 7,168 for 2022, 8,646 for 2021 and 10,047 for 2020.
Winston-Salem's 7,243 arrests in 2025 were up 19 percent from 6,074 in 2024.
Through April 2026, Winston-Salem reported 2,783 arrests, against 1,965 in the same months of 2025.
Across Forsyth County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,416 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Winston-Salem Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Winston-Salem 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 820 people, down from about 820 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,016 beds, and it ran at 75 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 Winston-Salem
For Winston-Salem the place to look is the case index of the Forsyth 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/forsyth-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 Winston-Salem
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 Winston-Salem police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at cityofws.org/319/Police-Department (page title: Police Department | City of Winston-Salem, NC), phone 336-779-6300, 725 N Cherry Street Winston-Salem, NC 27101, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Forsyth County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/forsyth-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Forsyth County guide covers every agency in the county: Forsyth County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Winston-Salem each year?
Winston-Salem reported 7,243 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Winston-Salem booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Winston-Salem?
The court files of criminal cases in the Forsyth 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 Winston-Salem?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Winston-Salem police for its own arrests, the Forsyth 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.
Is this the official Winston-Salem 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.