SearchSystems Editorial

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.

About this guide

Wake County, North Carolina, has about 1.2 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Wake County Sheriff's Office, 12 city agencies and 13 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 Wake 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: Wake County public records, North Carolina arrest records, North Carolina inmate search and North Carolina criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Wake County

The Wake County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Wake County. It reported 2,251 arrests for 2025.

Arrests inside 12 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:

  • Raleigh, 499,825 residents: 25,147 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Cary, 182,659 residents: 1,326 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Apex, 75,977 residents: 666 arrests reported for 2023.
  • Wake Forest, 56,764 residents: 684 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Holly Springs, 48,674 residents: 461 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Fuquay-Varina, 46,317 residents: 1,157 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Garner, 39,345 residents: 1,472 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Morrisville, 32,628 residents: 237 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Knightdale, 21,829 residents: 590 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Wendell, 16,845 residents: 202 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Rolesville, 11,854 residents: 146 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Zebulon, 10,505 residents: 137 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 Angier Police Department and the Durham Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Wake County, so their arrests are not broken out for Wake County here.

The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Wake County: Raleigh-Durham International Airport, the North Carolina Museum of Art Park Police, North Carolina General Assembly and the WakeMed Campus Police (other); North Carolina State University, Raleigh, Saint Augustine's University and Meredith College (campus police); the State Fairgrounds, the State Park Rangers at Falls Lake Recreation Area, the State Park Rangers at Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, the State Park Rangers at William B. Umstead and two more (state agency).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Wake 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.

  • Raleigh: 25,147 for 2025, 22,297 for 2024, 21,484 for 2023, 21,027 for 2022, 20,156 for 2021 and 8,032 for 2020.
  • Wake County Sheriff's Office: 2,251 for 2025, 1,645 for 2021, 2,407 for 2020 and 3,075 for 2019; 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
  • Garner: 1,472 for 2025, 1,328 for 2024, 1,376 for 2023, 1,006 for 2022, 757 for 2021 and 748 for 2020.
  • Cary: 1,326 for 2025, 1,264 for 2024, 1,124 for 2023, 1,133 for 2022, 1,175 for 2021 and 1,307 for 2020.
  • Fuquay-Varina: 1,157 for 2025, 1,208 for 2024, 913 for 2023, 760 for 2022, 503 for 2021 and 526 for 2020.
  • Wake Forest: 684 for 2025, 701 for 2024, 584 for 2023, 620 for 2022, 629 for 2021 and 604 for 2020.
  • Knightdale: 590 for 2025, 655 for 2024, 654 for 2023, 491 for 2022, 447 for 2021 and 316 for 2020.
  • Holly Springs: 461 for 2025, 520 for 2023, 473 for 2022, 437 for 2021, 316 for 2020 and 259 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
  • Morrisville: 237 for 2025, 178 for 2024, 209 for 2023, 147 for 2022, 113 for 2021 and 122 for 2020.
  • Wendell: 202 for 2025, 202 for 2024, 154 for 2023, 160 for 2022, 93 for 2021 and 109 for 2020.
  • Rolesville: 146 for 2025, 107 for 2024, 126 for 2023, 144 for 2022, 85 for 2021 and 66 for 2020.
  • Zebulon: 137 for 2025, 172 for 2024, 268 for 2023, 150 for 2022, 120 for 2021 and 117 for 2020.

Together, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 33,810 arrests that year. The ten of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 31,098 in 2025 against 28,112 in 2024, up 11 percent.

Through July 2026, the 11 agencies with every month so far on file reported 19,093 arrests, against 19,346 in the same months of 2025.

Apex reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Wake County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Wake 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 1,460 people, up from about 1,200 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,569 beds, and it ran at 90 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 Wake County Sheriff's Office at wakeso.policetocitizen.com/Inmates (page title: Police To Citizen), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 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 Wake County

An arrest in Wake County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Wake 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/wake-county); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at nccourts.gov/taxonomy/term/557).

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 Wake 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 Wake County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
  • An arrest in Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina 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.
  • An arrest by Raleigh-Durham International Airport, North Carolina State University, Raleigh or the State Fairgrounds: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Wake County Superior Court, through the court records page at nccourts.gov/locations/wake-county.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at wake.gov (page title: Public Records Requests | Wake County Government).
  • Your own statewide record: a Right to Review request, fingerprint-based, to the State Bureau of Investigation.

The other Wake County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.

Cities in Wake County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the 12 cities in Wake County: Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Morrisville, Knightdale, Wendell, Rolesville and Zebulon.

Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Wake County Superior Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Wake County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Wake County each year?

Raleigh reported 25,147 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 12 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 33,810 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Wake County?

Ask the Wake County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at wakeso.policetocitizen.com/Inmates.

Where are people arrested in Wake County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Wake County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Wake County?

The court files of criminal cases in the Wake 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 Wake County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Wake 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 wake.gov.

Is this the official Wake 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.