Forsyth County NC Jail, Police & Court Record Guide
Find Forsyth County Arrests, Jail Bookings and Criminal Court Records
A Forsyth County arrest can appear in several places: Winston-Salem Police or Sheriff records, the downtown Law Enforcement Detention Center, and a North Carolina District or Superior Court case. Searching only one system can leave you with an arrest but no final outcome.
Start with the jail if you need current custody, request the arresting agency’s report when you need the police record, then use North Carolina eCourts and the Forsyth County Clerk to verify what charges were actually filed and how the case ended.
JAIL → CASE → DISPOSITION
FORSYTH RECORD CHECK
Current custody
SHERIFF
Arrest report
WSPD / FCSO
Criminal case
eCOURTS
Certified history
CLERK / SBI
MATCH NAME + DOB + CASE NUMBER
Certified county check
$25
NC SBI personal review
$14
One arrest can create several records
Use the Correct Forsyth County Record Source
POLICE
Arrest / Incident Report
Winston-Salem Police or another arresting agency maintains its own law-enforcement report. This can describe the arrest event but does not establish the final criminal disposition.
JAIL
Booking / Custody Record
Forsyth County Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Detention Center maintains current inmate information for people held in the county detention facility.
COURT
Criminal Case
eCourts and the Forsyth County Clerk show filed court cases, hearings, events and dispositions available to the public.
SBI
State Criminal History
North Carolina SBI maintains fingerprint-supported state criminal-history information and offers individuals a Right to Review their own record.
Do not equate booking with conviction. Jail data tells you that custody occurred. The court record tells you whether a charge remained pending, was dismissed, resulted in conviction, ended in acquittal or had another disposition.
Choose What You Need to Know Right Now
Is the person in jail?
Search the official Forsyth Sheriff inmate system first, then verify live custody with the Detention Center if release or bond status is urgent.
Need a Winston-Salem arrest record?
Use the WSPD Arrest Record Request form. The local record is not certified and does not contain the final court disposition.
Need the police incident narrative?
Request an incident report from the agency that created it—WSPD, Forsyth Sheriff or another law-enforcement agency.
Need the criminal case outcome?
Search the defendant in eCourts, filter to Forsyth County and open the Case Summary and disposition information.
Need a certified background record?
Use the Clerk’s $25 single-county certified criminal record search instead of treating a public Portal result as certification.
Need your own statewide NC history?
Use the SBI fingerprint-based Right to Review process for your North Carolina criminal-history record.
Forsyth County Arrest Records Quick Navigation
How to Check a Recent Forsyth County NC Arrest
Search the person’s legal name.
Use full legal spelling. If several people match, do not choose a result until you compare age, date of birth or other identifiers exposed by the live system.
Confirm current custody.
Look for the booking and custody information shown by the live inmate record rather than relying on a screenshot from another website.
Save charge and case identifiers.
Copy the case, docket, arrest or booking identifiers displayed because these make court research much faster.
Identify the arresting agency.
An inmate held in Forsyth County may have been arrested by Winston-Salem Police, Forsyth County Sheriff, Kernersville Police, Highway Patrol or another agency.
Move to the court system.
Use the case number or defendant name in North Carolina eCourts to verify what was filed.
Check the disposition.
A jail charge can change after first appearance, prosecutorial review, dismissal, plea, indictment or trial.
Call for urgent live custody questions.
Contact the Detention Center at
336-917-7600 when an immediate release, transfer or custody question cannot safely depend on an online roster alone.
Useful distinction: The Sheriff’s Detention Center page links directly to the current Police-to-Citizen inmate system. If the search portal itself rejects your browser or network, start from the county’s
official Detention Center page and select “Inmate Inquiry.”
Match Six Details Before You Attribute an Arrest to Someone
Legal name
Include suffixes.
DOB / age
Separate same-name people.
Arrest date
Match the correct event.
Agency
WSPD, FCSO or other.
Case number
Connect jail to court.
Disposition
Verify the final result.
A common name is not enough. An arrest result should not be attributed to a person solely because a first and last name match. Use multiple identifying fields and the corresponding court case.
Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center
What to Know About the Downtown Winston-Salem Jail
The Forsyth County Sheriff describes the Law Enforcement Detention Center as an adult maximum-security facility holding male and female pretrial detainees and sentenced misdemeanants.
1,016
Published inmate bed capacity
735
Modular steel cells
11
Stories in the twin-tower facility
400K
Approximate square feet
Detention Center
201 North Church Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Downtown location: The Detention Center sits between Second and Third Streets and Church and Chestnut Streets, only a short distance from the current Forsyth County Courthouse.
If the Person Is Still in the Forsyth County Jail
Public visitation hours
The jail publishes three public visitation periods: 9:00–11:30 a.m., 1:00–3:00 p.m. and 5:30–7:30 p.m. The eligible day depends on the inmate’s housing unit.
Visitor registration cutoff
The Sheriff states that visitors must be registered at least 30 minutes before the applicable visitation period ends.
Attorney visits
Published attorney visitation is 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m., seven days a week.
Find the inmate’s housing information first.
Visitation days differ by housing unit, so do not drive to the jail based only on the general hours.
For inmate funds, use the official commissary route.
The detention center currently identifies McDaniel Supply Company as its commissary provider.
Use the lobby kiosk when appropriate.
The Sheriff states that a kiosk in the detention-center lobby accepts cash or credit-card deposits and that the public lobby is open 8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. daily.
For inmate calls, review Pay Tel instructions.
The Sheriff currently identifies Pay Tel as the inmate telephone-service provider.
How to Request a Winston-Salem Arrest Record
For an arrest maintained by Winston-Salem Police, the city provides a dedicated online Arrest Record Request form. This is a particularly useful local shortcut because it avoids treating a jail roster as the actual police record.
Enter the subject’s identifying information.
The form includes fields such as first and last name, date of birth, race, sex, driver-license information and other identifiers.
Complete the requester section.
Provide your own contact information and the reason for the request.
Understand what you will receive.
The city explicitly states that the result is not a certified arrest record.
Do not expect a court disposition.
Winston-Salem Police records document arrests maintained by WSPD; the city directs users needing a certified record with court dispositions to the Forsyth County Clerk.
WSPD Records Division
Vivian H. Burke Public Safety Center
725 North Cherry Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Records hours
Monday–Friday
8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Local arrest-record fee
The current Winston-Salem Police FAQ states there is no charge for its local arrest record.
Employment warning from WSPD: Winston-Salem Police specifically says its local arrest records are not certified, do not contain dispositions and should not be used for employment or similar purposes.
Arrest Record vs Incident Report: Request the Correct Document
Winston-Salem Police
WSPD provides separate online forms for public arrest records and public incident reports. Use the incident-report form when you need the report about the event rather than the person’s local arrest-history printout.
Forsyth County Sheriff
Sheriff incident reports must be obtained from FCSO when a deputy initiated the report. The Sheriff says the general public may request the front page, while a full incident report requires a court order signed by a judge.
Identify which agency initiated the report.
A Winston-Salem city case, Sheriff case and Highway Patrol case do not use the same records custodian.
For FCSO, bring the report number.
The Sheriff’s records instructions require the report number issued by the law-enforcement officer for in-person incident-report requests.
Use the correct government office.
The Sheriff specifically notes that reports must be requested from the agency that initiated them.
Forsyth Sheriff Records window: Incident-report requests are handled at 301 North Church Street, second floor, Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Requests after 4:00 p.m. are processed the next business day.
Search the Forsyth County Criminal Case in NC eCourts
North Carolina’s eCourts conversion is now statewide. All 100 counties use the Enterprise Justice / Odyssey case-management system, and the public Portal can be searched without registration for publicly available information.
Select Smart Search.
Anonymous public users can search publicly available cases without creating an account.
Use the exact criminal case number when available.
A current Odyssey criminal case number contains year, case type, sequence number and county identifier.
Otherwise search the defendant’s legal name.
Use Advanced Filtering to narrow results by party information when a common name returns too many cases.
Set the location to Forsyth County.
This keeps a Winston-Salem search from being confused with cases in other North Carolina counties.
Filter to Criminal Actions.
Smart Search can separate criminal cases from civil, estate, family and other public case categories.
Open the Case Summary.
Review case information, parties, events, dispositions, hearings and financial information where publicly available.
Check Search Hearings separately.
Search Hearings can help confirm a current hearing date or courtroom using case number, party name or other criteria.
Use the Clerk for an official copy.
The Judicial Branch states that Portal itself is not the official court record.
Why a case may be hidden: Confidential, sealed and restricted case types or data do not become public merely because Portal exists. Do not try to bypass access restrictions.
District Court or Superior Court?
DISTRICT COURT
Misdemeanors, Infractions & Early Felony Proceedings
North Carolina District Court hears misdemeanor criminal cases and infractions. Magistrates can issue warrants, set bail and perform other early criminal functions.
Felony matters may also begin with District Court pretrial proceedings before moving forward.
A misdemeanor conviction in District Court can be appealed for a new trial in Superior Court.
SUPERIOR COURT
Felony Trials & Certain Appeals
North Carolina Superior Court hears felony criminal cases and misdemeanor or infraction appeals from District Court.
More serious felony cases often begin with District Court processing but are ultimately resolved in Superior Court if they proceed to trial.
Forsyth County is currently part of Superior Court District 31 and District Court District 31.
Do not search only one court level for a felony. North Carolina describes felony cases as often beginning in District Court for pretrial matters before serious felony cases move to Superior Court.
Important local location update
Use the New Forsyth County Courthouse — Not the Old Hall of Justice
Current courthouse: Forsyth County Courts moved to the new courthouse at 175 N. Chestnut Street, Winston-Salem in October 2023. Older agency pages or old search results may still refer to the former Hall of Justice at 200 N. Main Street.
Physical address
175 N. Chestnut Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Clerk office
Monday–Friday
8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Mailing address
P.O. Box 20099
Winston-Salem, NC 27120
Why this matters: Some older Winston-Salem Police FAQ text still references the former courthouse for certified arrest records. For a 2026 visit, use the Judicial Branch’s current Forsyth County Courthouse address at 175 N. Chestnut Street.
Local arrest record, county court check and state fingerprint check are not the same
Choose the Right Forsyth County Criminal Record Check
FREE
WSPD Local Arrest Record
Winston-Salem Police currently states that its local arrest record is available without charge.
It is not certified and does not contain the court disposition.
Best for: confirming arrests maintained by Winston-Salem Police, not for a certified employment or statewide criminal-history check.
$25
Certified Forsyth Court Search
Submit North Carolina form AOC-CR-314 to the Clerk of Superior Court for a certified name-based criminal record search.
The result covers court records in Forsyth County only.
Best for: a certified single-county court-record search for yourself or another person.
$14
NC SBI Right to Review
A fingerprint-based search of your own North Carolina criminal-history record maintained by the State Bureau of Investigation.
Best for: reviewing your own fingerprint-supported statewide North Carolina record for accuracy and completeness.
Free courthouse search: North Carolina Courts also allows self-service non-certified criminal record searches using public-access computers at clerk offices without a search fee. Printing fees may apply.
Portal is different: The Judicial Branch says individuals performing criminal background checks should use the county clerk’s background-check process rather than treating online Portal results as a certified background check.
How to Request a Certified Forsyth County Criminal Record Search
Download Form AOC-CR-314.
This is the statewide request form for a certified single-county criminal-record search.
Identify Forsyth County.
The search checks official court records in the county named on the form.
Enter the subject’s name carefully.
A name-based check is only as useful as the identifiers supplied and should not be confused with fingerprint matching.
Include the $25 fee.
The Judicial Branch currently lists $25 for the certified single-county search.
Use an accepted payment method.
Mailed requests accept money order or certified check. In-person requests may be paid by credit card, cash, money order or certified check under the statewide instructions.
Submit to the Forsyth Clerk.
Use the current Forsyth County Courthouse rather than an outdated Hall of Justice address.
County limitation: The $25 Clerk search is a Forsyth County court-record check. It is not a certified statewide North Carolina criminal-history search.
Review Your Own North Carolina Criminal History Through SBI
Type of search
Fingerprint-based North Carolina state criminal-history review.
Current fee
$14 per Right to Review request.
Complete the Right to Review application.
This process is for inspecting your own North Carolina criminal-history record.
Obtain a complete set of fingerprints.
SBI requires a legible ten-print fingerprint card for the biometric search.
Include the $14 payment.
The SBI FAQ lists money order or certified check as accepted payment and does not accept cash, credit cards or personal checks for this request.
Review the returned result carefully.
SBI’s computerized criminal-history information is based on fingerprint-supported arrests submitted to the state repository and associated dispositions received by SBI.
Challenge an error through SBI.
If the returned record appears incomplete or incorrect, use the Right to Review written-exception process.
An Arrest Search Is Only the Beginning of the Record
1
Incident
Police or deputies investigate.
2
Arrest
Criminal process leads to custody.
3
Booking
Detention creates jail data.
4
Case
Charges proceed through court.
5
Disposition
Dismissal, plea, acquittal, conviction or other result.
6
Later relief
Some records may later qualify for expunction.
| Record Term |
What It Means |
What You Still Need to Verify |
| Arrested |
Law enforcement took arrest action. |
What charge was actually filed and the final outcome. |
| Booked |
The person was processed into detention. |
Whether every booking allegation became a court charge. |
| Bond |
Conditions of pretrial release were established. |
Whether bond later changed at a court hearing. |
| Pending |
The case has not reached final disposition. |
Future hearings and later filings. |
| Dismissed |
The affected charge or case was dismissed. |
Whether other charges or cases remain. |
| Convicted |
A guilty disposition or conviction was entered. |
Sentence, appeal and later record relief where relevant. |
North Carolina criminal process: The Judicial Branch describes the basic sequence as investigation, arrest, first appearance, possible probable-cause proceedings for felonies, plea, trial, sentencing and possible appeal.
No Forsyth County Arrest Record Found? Use This Troubleshooter
| Problem |
Try This |
Why It Helps |
| No current inmate result |
Search eCourts and contact detention if the arrest was recent. |
The person may already have been released or transferred. |
| Police-to-Citizen page will not load |
Start from the Sheriff Detention Center page and select its Inmate Inquiry link. |
The county page provides the current official route even when the external portal rejects a browser or network. |
| Cannot find an arrest by address |
Use the subject’s legal name and identifying details. |
Arrest-history records are primarily person-based rather than address-based. |
| WSPD record has no disposition |
Search the case through eCourts or obtain a Clerk-certified search. |
WSPD specifically says its local arrest record is not certified and does not contain dispositions. |
| Incident report request went to the wrong office |
Identify the agency that initiated the report. |
Forsyth Sheriff states reports must be obtained from the initiating law-enforcement agency. |
| Old page sends you to 200 N. Main |
Use the current Forsyth County Courthouse at 175 N. Chestnut Street. |
The courts moved to the new courthouse in October 2023. |
| Too many eCourts results |
Filter to Forsyth County, Criminal Actions, date range and DOB where available. |
It reduces unrelated people and case categories. |
| Portal shows “no cases match” |
Check spelling and case-number format and consider whether the record is restricted. |
Judicial Branch Portal guidance lists incorrect format and restricted cases among possible reasons for no result. |
| Need statewide personal history |
Use SBI Right to Review. |
Forsyth police and court searches do not equal a fingerprint-supported statewide SBI record. |
| Record may have been expunged |
Contact the Clerk or obtain legal advice instead of trying to uncover restricted data. |
Expunction changes how government arrest, charge and conviction records are maintained and disclosed. |
“I am trying to verify a Forsyth County criminal record involving __________. The approximate arrest date is __________, the arresting agency may be __________, and the case or booking number is __________. I need to confirm the correct public record and final court disposition.”
Forsyth County Expunction: Start With the Final Case Result
North Carolina has many different expunction statutes. Eligibility can depend on the offense, age, dismissal, acquittal, conviction history, waiting period and other facts, so there is no single “Forsyth County expungement form” that fits every criminal record.
Dismissed charge
North Carolina provides expunction procedures for certain dismissed charges under G.S. 15A-146 and other statutes.
Not guilty
Separate statutory provisions address charges ending with findings of not guilty or not responsible.
Conviction
Different laws apply to eligible misdemeanors, nonviolent felonies and other specific conviction categories.
Locate the exact Forsyth case.
Save the case number, charge, disposition and disposition date.
Select the form tied to the correct statute.
Do not use a dismissal form for a conviction or assume every nonviolent conviction uses the same eligibility rules.
File in Forsyth County when that is where the charge or conviction occurred.
The Judicial Branch instructs petitioners to file with the Clerk in the county of the criminal case.
Check the fee.
North Carolina states that the general expunction filing fee is $175, while some statutes—including certain dismissed or not-guilty cases—do not require that fee.
Keep your expunction order.
North Carolina warns that after an expunction is granted, the Clerk may later be unable to provide another copy of the destroyed expunction file, so preserve the order you receive.
Eligibility is legal and fact-specific. Court clerks can explain filing procedure but cannot decide for you which expunction statute you qualify under.
Practical Forsyth County Arrest-Record Scenarios
Family member arrested tonight
Search Sheriff Inmate Inquiry, confirm detention status and case number, then check eCourts for the court process.
Winston-Salem Police arrest from years ago
Request the WSPD arrest record, but use the court case—not the police record—to determine disposition.
Need report details from a Sheriff investigation
Request the public front page from FCSO Records; understand that the Sheriff says a full incident report requires a court order.
Need employment documentation
Do not submit the free WSPD local arrest record as though it were certified. Determine whether the requesting organization needs a Clerk, SBI or authorized screening product.
Misdemeanor case
Follow District Court records and final disposition rather than stopping at the jail intake charge.
Felony arrest
Search both the early District Court history and the later Superior Court case path where applicable.
Old Hall of Justice address appears online
Use the current Forsyth County Courthouse at 175 N. Chestnut Street for 2026 court-record business.
Person was released quickly
A current inmate search may no longer show the person. Move to police and court records to preserve the historical trail.
Your SBI history appears wrong
Use SBI’s Right to Review exception procedure rather than asking the local jail to alter a state criminal-history record.
Use Forsyth County Arrest Information Carefully
- Confirm identity with more than a name
- Distinguish arrest from conviction
- Check the final court disposition
- Use live jail data for current custody
- Use the initiating agency for its police report
- Use the Clerk when certification is required
- Respect sealed and expunged records
- Do not infer guilt from a booking charge
- Correct outdated information when the case changes
- Use compliant consumer-reporting procedures for regulated screening
Background-screening caution: A public jail or eCourts search is not automatically a Fair Credit Reporting Act-compliant employment, housing, credit or other consumer report.
Official Forsyth County Arrest, Jail and Court Resources
Forsyth County NC Arrest Records FAQs
1. How do I search current Forsyth County NC jail inmates?
Use the Forsyth County Sheriff Police-to-Citizen Inmate Inquiry linked from the official Law Enforcement Detention Center page. Search the legal name, verify identifying details and use the live Detention Center phone at 336-917-7600 when current custody status is urgent.
2. Where can I get a Winston-Salem Police arrest record?
Winston-Salem Police provides an online Request for Arrest Records form. The city states that the result is not certified, does not contain court dispositions and includes arrests maintained by the Winston-Salem Police Department.
3. Is a Winston-Salem Police arrest record free?
The current Winston-Salem Police FAQ states there is no charge for its local arrest record. For a certified court-based criminal record search, use the Forsyth County Clerk instead.
4. How do I search Forsyth County criminal court records online?
Use North Carolina eCourts Portal. Search the exact case number when available or search the defendant’s name, filter the location to Forsyth County and use the Criminal Actions filter. Portal information is public docket access and is not itself an official certified court record.
5. Where is the Forsyth County Courthouse in 2026?
The current Forsyth County Courthouse is at 175 N. Chestnut Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Courts moved from the former Hall of Justice at 200 N. Main Street in October 2023.
6. How much is a certified Forsyth County criminal background check?
North Carolina Courts currently lists a $25 fee for a certified single-county criminal record search by the Clerk of Superior Court using form AOC-CR-314. The result covers Forsyth County court records and is not a statewide certified search.
7. How do I get my statewide North Carolina criminal history?
Use the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Right to Review process. It is a fingerprint-based search of your own North Carolina criminal-history record and currently costs $14.
8. Does an arrest or jail booking mean the person was convicted?
No. An arrest and jail booking document law-enforcement and custody activity, not guilt. Search the related Forsyth County court case and final disposition before describing a person as convicted.
9. What are the Forsyth County jail visitation hours?
The Detention Center currently publishes public visitation periods of 9:00–11:30 a.m., 1:00–3:00 p.m. and 5:30–7:30 p.m. Eligible visitation days depend on the inmate’s housing unit, and visitors must register at least 30 minutes before the visitation period ends.
10. Can a Forsyth County arrest or criminal record be expunged?
Some North Carolina charges and convictions can qualify for expunction, but eligibility depends on the statute, offense, disposition, prior history and other facts. A petition is generally filed with the Clerk in the county where the charge or conviction occurred.
Independent Records Guide and Verification Notice
This page is an independent informational guide and is not affiliated with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center, Winston-Salem Police Department, Forsyth County Clerk of Superior Court, North Carolina Judicial Branch or North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Arrest, charge, booking, bond, custody, hearing and disposition information can change. Records can also be restricted, sealed, corrected or expunged. Confirm consequential information through the agency that actually maintains the record.
An arrest does not establish guilt. This page does not provide legal advice and is not a consumer report for employment, housing, credit or other regulated background-screening decisions.
Editorial verification date: August 28, 2026.
Slug: forsyth-county-nc-arrest-records
