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.
Durham County, North Carolina, has about 344,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Durham County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and four campus, state or other 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 Durham 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: Durham County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Durham County
The Durham County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Durham County. It reported 84 arrests for 2025.
One city in Durham County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Durham, 301,870 residents: 3,604 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 Morrisville Police Department, the Raleigh Police Department, the Chapel Hill Police Department and one more are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Durham County, so their arrests are not broken out for Durham County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Durham County: the State Park Rangers at Eno River (state agency); North Carolina Central University and Duke University (campus police); the Durham County Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Enforcement Office (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Durham County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Durham: 3,604 for 2025, 3,865 for 2024, 4,288 for 2023, 4,290 for 2022, 3,940 for 2021 and 4,298 for 2020.
- Durham County Sheriff's Office: 84 for 2025, 175 for 2022, 245 for 2021, 277 for 2020 and 351 for 2019; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,688 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,604 in 2025 against 3,865 in 2024, down 6.8 percent.
Through June 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,977 arrests, against 1,867 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Durham County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Durham 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 380 people, down from about 430 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 736 beds, and it ran at 53 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 Durham County Sheriff's Office at durhamsheriff.com/community/public-information/inmate-population-se... (page title: Inmate Population Search | Durham County Sheriff), 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 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 Durham County
Whether someone was arrested in Durham County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Durham County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Durham County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at dconc.gov/Clerk-of-the-Superior-Court/Court-Services/Records-Access); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at dconc.gov/County-Attorney/Staff-Listing).
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 Durham 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 Durham County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Durham: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park Rangers at Eno River, North Carolina Central University or Duke University: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Durham County Superior Court, through the court records page at dconc.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at dconc.gov (page title: Durham County | Online Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Durham County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for Durham, the one city in Durham County.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Durham County Superior Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Durham County each year?
Durham reported 3,604 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,688 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Durham County?
Look on the custody page of the Durham County Sheriff's Office at durhamsheriff.com. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Durham County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Durham County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Durham County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Durham 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 Durham County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Durham 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 dconc.gov.
Is this the official Durham 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.