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 between September 23, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Guilford County, North Carolina, has about 559,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Guilford County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and five 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 Guilford 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: Guilford County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Guilford County
The Guilford County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Guilford County. It reported 1,382 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Guilford County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Greensboro, 307,381 residents: 6,307 arrests reported for 2025.
- High Point, 118,601 residents: 3,107 arrests reported for 2025.
- Gibsonville, 9,744 residents: 136 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 Kernersville Police Department, the Burlington Police Department and the Archdale Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Guilford County, so their arrests are not broken out for Guilford County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Guilford County: High Point University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Guilford Technical Community College (campus police); Piedmont Triad International Airport (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Guilford 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.
- Greensboro: 6,307 for 2025, 6,418 for 2024, 7,242 for 2023, 7,698 for 2022, 7,455 for 2021 and 7,683 for 2020.
- High Point: 3,107 for 2025, 3,226 for 2024, 3,536 for 2023, 3,048 for 2022, 3,471 for 2021 and 3,903 for 2020.
- Guilford County Sheriff's Office: 1,382 for 2025, 1,579 for 2024, 2,123 for 2023, 2,040 for 2022, 2,335 for 2021 and 2,169 for 2020.
- Gibsonville: 136 for 2025, 163 for 2024, 157 for 2023, 109 for 2022, 67 for 2021 and 129 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,932 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 10,932 in 2025 against 11,386 in 2024, down 4 percent.
Through July 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,072 arrests, against 2,753 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Guilford County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Guilford 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 850 people, down from about 930 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,308 beds, and it ran at 64 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 Guilford County Sheriff's Office at guilfordcountync.gov/government/sheriffs-office/detention-centers (page title: Detention Centers | Guilford County), phone (336) 641-2700, 201 S Edgeworth St. Tuesday through Friday: Greensboro Detention Center Greensboro, NC 27401, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Guilford County
Whether someone was arrested in Guilford County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Guilford 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/guilford-county); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at guilfordcountync.gov/government/county-attorneys-office/contact-us, phone 336-641-3852).
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 Guilford 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 Guilford County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (336) 641-2700.
- An arrest in Greensboro, High Point or Gibsonville: 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 High Point University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University or the University of North Carolina at Greensboro: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 336-641-3852, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Guilford County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/guilford-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at guilfordcountync.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
The other Guilford County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Guilford County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the ten cities in Guilford County: Greensboro, High Point and Gibsonville. Summerfield, Oak Ridge, Stokesdale, Pleasant Garden, Jamestown, Sedalia and Whitsett 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 Guilford County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Guilford County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Greensboro (307,381)
- High Point (118,601)
- Summerfield (11,333)
- Gibsonville (9,744)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Guilford County each year?
Greensboro reported 6,307 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 10,932 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Guilford County?
Ask the Guilford County Sheriff's Office at (336) 641-2700; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at guilfordcountync.gov.
Where are people arrested in Guilford County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Guilford County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Guilford County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Guilford 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 Guilford County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Guilford 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 guilfordcountync.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Guilford 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.