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. 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). A traffic ticket written in Forsyth County is a court case in the District Court, and the conviction it ends in goes on the driving record kept by the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles. This guide says which court takes the ticket, who writes them and where the driving record lives.
This guide covers where tickets go, who writes them, the driving record, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Forsyth County public records, Forsyth County arrest records, Forsyth County warrants, Forsyth County criminal records, Forsyth County court records, North Carolina arrest records and North Carolina inmate search.
Where a Ticket Written in Forsyth County Goes
A traffic ticket written in Forsyth County is answered in the District Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, divorces, child custody, small claims and civil cases up to $25,000. The ticket itself is a court case, and the court's index is the record of it.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at nccourts.gov/locations/forsyth-county.
Statewide, eCourts Portal is the North Carolina Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
Who Writes the Tickets in Forsyth County
The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Winston-Salem and Kernersville write the traffic tickets in Forsyth County.
The FBI's agency list also places one other agency and three campus police departments in Forsyth County (the arrest records guide names each one).
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 Driving Record and the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles
The driving record is a separate document from the court file. It is kept by the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, which adds each conviction the court reports and handles suspensions; the court does not issue driving records.
Paying a ticket is a conviction, reported to the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles like any other; contesting it means a plea of not guilty entered with the court by the date on the ticket.
A DWI is a criminal charge rather than a ticket, with its own license case before the Division of Motor Vehicles.
Cities in Forsyth County
Wherever in the county a ticket is written, it is answered in the District 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 traffic tickets guide opens there:
- Winston-Salem (255,769)
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I pay a traffic ticket from Forsyth County?
With the District Court.
Who keeps my driving record in North Carolina?
The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles. The court reports each conviction to it, and paying a ticket counts as one.
Which court handles traffic tickets in Forsyth County?
The District Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, divorces, child custody, small claims and civil cases up to $25,000.
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.