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.
Forsyth County, North Carolina, has about 398,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies 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 Forsyth 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: Forsyth County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Forsyth County
The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Forsyth County. It reported 1,998 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Forsyth County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Winston-Salem, 255,769 residents: 7,243 arrests reported for 2025.
- Kernersville, 28,760 residents: 1,175 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 King Police Department and the High Point Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Forsyth County, so their arrests are not broken out for Forsyth County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Forsyth County: Triad Municipal Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Enforcement (other); Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem State University and North Carolina School of the Arts (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Forsyth 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.
- Winston-Salem: 7,243 for 2025, 6,074 for 2024, 6,550 for 2023, 7,168 for 2022, 8,646 for 2021 and 10,047 for 2020.
- Forsyth County Sheriff's Office: 1,998 for 2025, 1,788 for 2024, 1,613 for 2023, 2,082 for 2022, 1,602 for 2021 and 2,130 for 2020.
- Kernersville: 1,175 for 2025, 1,259 for 2024, 1,255 for 2023, 928 for 2022, 854 for 2021 and 983 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,416 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 10,416 in 2025 against 9,121 in 2024, up 14 percent.
Through April 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,789 arrests, against 2,996 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Forsyth County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Forsyth 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 820 people, down from about 820 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,016 beds, and it ran at 75 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Forsyth County
For Forsyth County the place to look is the case index of the Forsyth 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/forsyth-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 Forsyth 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 Forsyth County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Winston-Salem or Kernersville: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Triad Municipal Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Enforcement, Wake Forest University or Winston-Salem State University: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Forsyth County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/forsyth-county.
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Forsyth County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the eight cities in Forsyth County: Winston-Salem and Kernersville. Clemmons, Lewisville, Walkertown, Rural Hall, Tobaccoville and Bethania 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 Forsyth County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Forsyth County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Winston-Salem (255,769)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Forsyth County each year?
Winston-Salem reported 7,243 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 10,416 between them.
Where are people arrested in Forsyth County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Forsyth County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Forsyth 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 Forsyth County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Forsyth 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.
Is this the official Forsyth 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.