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.
Rowan County, North Carolina, has about 153,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Rowan County Sheriff's Office and eight city 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 Rowan 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: Rowan County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Rowan County
The Rowan County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Rowan County. It reported 1,781 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside eight of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Salisbury, 36,579 residents: 1,454 arrests reported for 2025.
- China Grove, 4,610 residents: 89 arrests reported for 2025.
- Landis, 3,838 residents: 18 arrests reported for 2025.
- Spencer, 3,406 residents: 215 arrests reported for 2025.
- Granite Quarry, 3,107 residents: 19 arrests reported for 2025.
- Rockwell, 2,390 residents: 123 arrests reported for 2022.
- East Spencer, 1,625 residents: 62 arrests reported for 2023.
- Cleveland, 887 residents: 49 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 Kannapolis Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Rowan County, so its arrests are not broken out for Rowan County here.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Rowan 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.
- Rowan County Sheriff's Office: 1,781 for 2025, 1,962 for 2024, 2,320 for 2023, 2,331 for 2022, 2,458 for 2021 and 2,374 for 2020.
- Salisbury: 1,454 for 2025, 1,426 for 2024, 1,198 for 2023, 1,177 for 2022, 1,465 for 2021 and 1,518 for 2020.
- Spencer: 215 for 2025, 341 for 2024, 207 for 2023, 143 for 2022, 177 for 2021 and 155 for 2020.
- China Grove: 89 for 2025, 113 for 2024, 135 for 2023, 96 for 2022, 58 for 2021 and 42 for 2020.
- Cleveland: 49 for 2025, 81 for 2024, 19 for 2023, 25 for 2022, 28 for 2020 and 12 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Granite Quarry: 19 for 2025, 34 for 2024, 50 for 2023, 74 for 2022, 51 for 2021 and 21 for 2020.
- Landis: 18 for 2025, 49 for 2024, 30 for 2023 and 21 for 2022.
- Rockwell: 123 for 2022, 124 for 2021, 122 for 2020 and 81 for 2019.
- East Spencer: 62 for 2023, 43 for 2022, 74 for 2021, 82 for 2020 and 56 for 2019.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,625 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,625 in 2025 against 4,006 in 2024, down 9.5 percent.
Through June 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,794 arrests, against 1,800 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Rowan County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Rowan 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 270 people, down from about 360 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 370 beds, and it ran at 99 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Rowan County
For Rowan County the place to look is the case index of the Rowan 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/rowan-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 Rowan 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 Rowan County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Salisbury, China Grove, Landis, Spencer, Granite Quarry, Rockwell or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Rowan County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/rowan-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at rowancountync.gov/642/Public-Records-Requests (page title: Public Records | Rowan County).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Rowan County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for eight of the nine cities in Rowan County: Salisbury, China Grove, Landis, Spencer, Granite Quarry, Rockwell, East Spencer and Cleveland. Faith has 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 Rowan County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Rowan County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Salisbury (36,579)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Rowan County each year?
The Rowan County Sheriff's Office reported 1,781 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,625 between them.
Where are people arrested in Rowan County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Rowan County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Rowan County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Rowan 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 Rowan County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Rowan 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 rowancountync.gov/642/Public-Records-Requests.
Is this the official Rowan 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.