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). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Chatham County is held at the county jail, run by the Chatham County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Chatham County public records, Chatham County arrest records, Chatham County warrants, Chatham County criminal records, Chatham County court records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Chatham County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Chatham County is held at the county jail, run by the Chatham County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
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.
Someone booked recently shows on that page; someone cited and released at the scene, or held a few hours at a city station, does not.
The Chatham County Jail by the Numbers
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.
Chatham County has about 84,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 6 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Chatham County Jail
The Chatham County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Siler City and Pittsboro make the arrests that end in a booking in Chatham County.
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.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were the Chatham County Sheriff's Office's 798 for 2025, Siler City's 340 for 2025 and Pittsboro's 119 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Chatham County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,257 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Chatham County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Chatham County 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate 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.
How many people are in the Chatham County jail?
About 48 on an average day in 2024, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 110 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Chatham County go?
To a facility of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction; its inmate locator is at dac.nc.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.