Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 28, 2026.
Alamance County, North Carolina, has about 183,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Alamance County Sheriff's Office, five city agencies and one campus agency. An arrest 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 Alamance County Superior Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Alamance County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Alamance County
The Alamance County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Alamance County. It reported 1,839 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Burlington, 61,365 residents: 2,577 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mebane, 20,654 residents: 278 arrests reported for 2025.
- Graham, 19,311 residents: 516 arrests reported for 2025.
- Elon, 11,282 residents: 100 arrests reported for 2025.
- Haw River, 2,391 residents: 115 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The Gibsonville Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Alamance County, so its arrests are not broken out for Alamance County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Alamance County: Elon University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Alamance County
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.
- Burlington: 2,577 for 2025, 2,277 for 2024, 2,135 for 2023, 1,903 for 2022, 2,074 for 2021 and 2,134 for 2020.
- Alamance County Sheriff's Office: 1,839 for 2025, 2,085 for 2024, 2,221 for 2023, 1,806 for 2022, 2,474 for 2021 and 1,539 for 2020.
- Graham: 516 for 2025, 503 for 2024, 412 for 2023, 345 for 2022, 342 for 2021 and 359 for 2020.
- Mebane: 278 for 2025, 241 for 2024, 169 for 2023, 164 for 2022, 184 for 2021 and 264 for 2020.
- Haw River: 115 for 2025, 117 for 2024, 80 for 2023, 172 for 2022, 139 for 2021 and 163 for 2020.
- Elon: 100 for 2025, 125 for 2024, 178 for 2023, 114 for 2022, 85 for 2021 and 53 for 2020.
Together, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,425 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,425 in 2025 against 5,348 in 2024, up 1.4 percent.
Through May 2026, the five agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,742 arrests, against 1,359 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Alamance County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Alamance County 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 340 people, down from about 500 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 476 beds, and it ran at 77 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 Alamance County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.alamancecountync.gov/divisions/detention-center (page title: Detention Center | Alamance County Sheriffs Office), phone (336) 570-6317, 109 S Maple St, Graham, NC 27253, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 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 Alamance County
For Alamance County the place to look is the case index of the Alamance 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/alamance-county/alamance-county-cases-of-pub...).
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 Alamance County
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 Alamance County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (336) 570-6317.
- An arrest in Burlington, Mebane, Graham, Elon or Haw River: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Elon University: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Alamance County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Alamance County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the nine cities in Alamance County: Burlington, Mebane, Graham, Elon and Haw River. Green Level, Swepsonville, Alamance and Ossipee have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Alamance County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Alamance County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Burlington (61,365)
- Mebane (20,654)
- Graham (19,311)
- Elon (11,282)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Alamance County each year?
Burlington reported 2,577 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the six agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,425 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Alamance County?
Ask the Alamance County Sheriff's Office at (336) 570-6317; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.alamancecountync.gov.
Where are people arrested in Alamance County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Alamance County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Alamance County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Alamance 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 Alamance County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Alamance 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 Alamance County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.