Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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). In North Carolina the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of Superior Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Durham County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests, directory links and common questions.
Related guides: Durham County public records, Durham County arrest records, Durham County warrants, Durham County inmate search, Durham County court records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Durham County Superior Court
In North Carolina the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Durham County are heard by the Durham County Superior Court, which hears felonies and civil cases over $25,000; the District Court takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, divorces, child custody, small claims and civil cases up to $25,000, and the file of each case is kept by the Clerk of Superior Court.
For Durham County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at dconc.gov/Clerk-of-the-Superior-Court/Court-Services/Records-Access (page title: Durham County | Records Access), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, eCourts Portal is the North Carolina Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
The North Carolina Criminal History and Your Own Copy
The statewide criminal history kept by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is closed to the public in North Carolina: it is released to its subject and to authorized employers and licensing agencies, and a member of the public uses the court's own case index instead.
To see your own record, the route is a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation. Statewide court records are the public route: the Clerk of Superior Court sells certified criminal record checks. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at nccourts.gov/help-topics/court-records/criminal-background-check.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Durham County
The Durham County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Durham keep the arrest records in Durham County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places one state agency, two campus police departments and one other agency in Durham County (the arrest records guide names each one); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
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.
Together, the two agencies in Durham County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,688 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Durham County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Durham County in 2025
The two agencies in Durham County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,624 violent and 11,550 property crimes to the FBI that year; the one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 12,610 crimes in 2025 against 13,312 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Durham County public records guide.
The District Attorney for Durham County
Charges in Durham County are filed by the District Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Durham County Superior Court or the District Court.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at dconc.gov/County-Attorney/Staff-Listing (page title: Durham County | Staff Listing), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Durham County
Registered sex offenders living in Durham County are listed on the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry, run by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation at sexoffender.ncsbi.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online; the county sheriff registers them.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Durham County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the North Carolina Public Records Act a county office must answer a request as promptly as possible; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at dconc.gov/Public-Information/Online-Public-Records-Request (page title: Durham County | Online Public Records Request).
More Official Criminal Records Pages for Durham County
The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Durham County and North Carolina. These criminal records pages from its Durham County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:
- North Carolina Offender Registry (sexoffender.ncsbi.gov)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Durham County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at dconc.gov (page title: Durham County | Records Access). Statewide, eCourts Portal is the North Carolina Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
How do I get my own North Carolina criminal history?
Through a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Who prosecutes crimes in Durham County?
The District Attorney, which files its cases in the Durham County Superior Court or the District Court.
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.