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 on September 23, 2026.
Chatham County, North Carolina, has about 84,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Chatham County Sheriff's Office and two city agencies. 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 Chatham 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: Chatham County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Chatham County
The Chatham County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Chatham County. It reported 798 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Siler City, 8,087 residents: 340 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pittsboro, 4,989 residents: 119 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 Apex Police Department and the Cary Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Chatham County, so their arrests are not broken out for Chatham County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Chatham 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.
- Chatham County Sheriff's Office: 798 for 2025, 653 for 2024, 620 for 2023, 619 for 2022, 601 for 2021 and 539 for 2020.
- Siler City: 340 for 2025, 311 for 2024, 272 for 2023, 266 for 2022, 243 for 2021 and 230 for 2020.
- Pittsboro: 119 for 2025, 102 for 2024, 82 for 2023, 80 for 2022, 53 for 2021 and 91 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,257 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,257 in 2025 against 1,066 in 2024, up 18 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Chatham County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Chatham County 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 48 people, down from about 71 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 110 beds, and it ran at 65 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Chatham County Sheriff's Office at chathamsheriff.com/inmatesearch (page title: Inmate Search | Chatham County Sheriff’s Office NC), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Chatham County
Whether someone was arrested in Chatham County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Chatham County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Chatham 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/chatham-county/chatham-county-cases-of-publi...).
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 Chatham County
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 Chatham County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Siler City or Pittsboro: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Chatham County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at chathamcountync.gov (page title: Public Records Requests | Chatham County, NC).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Chatham County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Chatham County: Siler City and Pittsboro. Goldston has 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 Chatham County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Chatham County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Siler City (8,087)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Chatham County each year?
The Chatham County Sheriff's Office reported 798 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,257 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Chatham County?
Look on the custody page of the Chatham County Sheriff's Office at chathamsheriff.com/inmatesearch. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Chatham County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Chatham County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Chatham County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Chatham 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 Chatham County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Chatham 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at chathamcountync.gov.
Is this the official Chatham 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.