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.
Davidson County, North Carolina, has about 178,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Davidson County Sheriff's Office and three 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 Davidson 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: Davidson County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Davidson County
The Davidson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Davidson County. It reported 1,865 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside three 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:
- Thomasville, 27,605 residents: 810 arrests reported for 2024.
- Lexington, 19,904 residents: 2,029 arrests reported for 2025.
- Denton, 1,580 residents: 87 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 High Point Police Department is listed by the FBI across four counties including Davidson County, so its arrests are not broken out for Davidson County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Davidson 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.
- Lexington: 2,029 for 2025, 1,990 for 2024, 2,147 for 2023, 2,236 for 2022, 2,353 for 2021 and 2,546 for 2020.
- Davidson County Sheriff's Office: 1,865 for 2025, 1,284 for 2024, 1,143 for 2023, 792 for 2022, 685 for 2021 and 826 for 2020.
- Denton: 87 for 2025.
- Thomasville: 810 for 2024, 532 for 2023, 513 for 2022, 839 for 2021, 902 for 2020 and 893 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,981 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,029 in 2025 against 1,990 in 2024, up 2 percent.
Through April 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,405 arrests, against 1,244 in the same months of 2025.
Thomasville reported only part of 2025 (5 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Davidson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Davidson 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 240 people, down from about 340 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2017, the last year with a capacity figure, was 296 beds, and it ran at 87 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 Davidson County Sheriff's Office at www2.co.davidson.nc.us/DCInmates (page title: Davidson County Sheriff's Office), 2511 E US Hwy 64 Lexington, NC 27292, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 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 Davidson County
For Davidson County the place to look is the case index of the Davidson 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/davidson-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 Davidson 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 Davidson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Thomasville, Lexington or Denton: 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 Davidson County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/davidson-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at co.davidson.nc.us/1045/Record-Request-Form (page title: Record Request Form | Davidson County, NC).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Davidson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the five cities in Davidson County: Thomasville, Lexington and Denton. Midway and Wallburg 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 Davidson County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Davidson County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Lexington (19,904)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Davidson County each year?
Lexington reported 2,029 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,981 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Davidson County?
Ask the Davidson County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at www2.co.davidson.nc.us/DCInmates.
Where are people arrested in Davidson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Davidson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Davidson County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Davidson 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 Davidson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Davidson 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 co.davidson.nc.us/1045/Record-Request-Form.
Is this the official Davidson 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.