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.
Union County, North Carolina, has about 263,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Union County Sheriff's Office and five 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 Union 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: Union County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Union County
The Union County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Union County. It reported 1,300 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five 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:
- Monroe, 40,054 residents: 1,562 arrests reported for 2025.
- Waxhaw, 23,178 residents: 136 arrests reported for 2025.
- Stallings, 17,617 residents: 182 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wingate, 4,517 residents: 35 arrests reported for 2022.
- Marshville, 2,710 residents: 88 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Union County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Monroe: 1,562 for 2025, 1,337 for 2024, 1,357 for 2023, 1,141 for 2022, 1,540 for 2021 and 1,847 for 2020.
- Union County Sheriff's Office: 1,300 for 2025, 1,491 for 2024, 1,298 for 2023, 1,287 for 2022, 1,240 for 2021 and 1,406 for 2020.
- Stallings: 182 for 2025, 297 for 2024, 162 for 2023, 128 for 2022, 156 for 2021 and 131 for 2020.
- Waxhaw: 136 for 2025, 147 for 2024, 156 for 2023, 234 for 2022, 197 for 2021 and 254 for 2020.
- Marshville: 88 for 2025, 55 for 2024, 43 for 2023, 35 for 2022, 52 for 2021 and 40 for 2020.
- Wingate: 35 for 2022, 23 for 2021, 15 for 2020 and 31 for 2019.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,268 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,268 in 2025 against 3,327 in 2024, down 1.8 percent.
Through April 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 901 arrests, against 954 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Union County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Union 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 260 people, up from about 220 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 264 beds, and it ran at 83 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 Union County Sheriff's Office at sheriff.unioncountync.gov/jailinmates.aspx (page title: Union County Sheriff Office P2C), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
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 Union County
For Union County the place to look is the case index of the Union 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/union-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 Union 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 Union County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Monroe, Waxhaw, Stallings, Wingate or Marshville: 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 Union County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/union-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at unioncountync.gov (page title: Public Record Request | Union County, NC).
- Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.
Cities in Union County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the 14 cities in Union County: Monroe, Waxhaw, Stallings, Wingate and Marshville. Indian Trail, Weddington, Wesley Chapel, Unionville, Marvin, Fairview, Lake Park, Mineral Springs and Hemby Bridge 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 Union County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Union County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Indian Trail (43,867)
- Monroe (40,054)
- Stallings (17,617)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Union County each year?
Monroe reported 1,562 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,268 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Union County?
Ask the Union County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriff.unioncountync.gov/jailinmates.aspx.
Where are people arrested in Union County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Union County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Union County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Union 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 Union County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Union 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 unioncountync.gov.
Is this the official Union 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.