North Carolina

What North Carolina's records show, how much of the state the FBI's data covers, and where the state publishes its own.

How North Carolina handles a case

Sets bail first: Magistrate
Who that is: Not a judge
Release on a schedule: No
Time to see a judge: No hour limit set
Money bail: Allowed (2025)
Risk assessment: Some counties
Prosecutor: District attorney, one per judicial district, elected
Public defense: Mixed
Jails run by: County sheriff

Who decides release first: A magistrate usually sets the first conditions of release. Magistrates are not judges and need not be lawyers. For murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, and other listed charges, only a judge can set release, and a magistrate may act only if no judge has done so within 48 hours of arrest.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 15A-533 N.C. Gen. Stat. 15A-534 UNC School of Government, Iryna's Law and Pretrial Release (2025)
Time to see a judge: Police must take a person arrested without a warrant before a judicial official, usually a magistrate, "without unnecessary delay." A person still in custody must then see a district court judge within 72 hours or at the next regular session of district court, whichever comes first.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 15A-501(2)N.C. Gen. Stat. 15A-601(c)
Money bail: Magistrates and judges may set secured money bonds. Iryna's Law, in effect December 1, 2025, ended release on a written promise to appear and requires a secured bond or house arrest for anyone released on a violent offense charge.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 15A-534 UNC School of Government, Iryna's Law and Pretrial Release (2025)

Crime and arrests

No figures yet

Reported offenses and arrests per 100,000 people, year by year, and how North Carolina compares with the country. They will come from the FBI's state totals.

FBI data coverage

Population covered: 96%; of North Carolina's people lived under an agency that reported to the FBI in 2025.
Agencies on NIBRS: 84%; 452 of 537 agencies send incident detail. The rest send summary counts or nothing.

85 agencies not reporting through NIBRS

Asheville Regional AirportOther
Aulander Police DepartmentCity
Badin Police DepartmentCity
Bakersville Police DepartmentCity
Beaufort County Alcoholic Beverage Control EnforcementOther
Beaufort County Community CollegeUniversity or College
Beaufort County Sheriff's OfficeCounty
Belmont Abbey CollegeUniversity or College
Black Creek Police DepartmentCity
Blue Ridge Community CollegeUniversity or College
Bridgeton Police DepartmentCity
Brookford Police DepartmentCity
Cherry HospitalOther State Agency
Claremont Police DepartmentCity
Columbus County Sheriff's OfficeCounty
Conway Police DepartmentCity
Davidson CollegeUniversity or College
Department of Health and Human ResourcesOther State Agency
Department of WildlifeOther State Agency
Division of Alcohol Law EnforcementOther State Agency
Division of Marine FisheriesOther State Agency
Durham County Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Enforcement OfficeOther
East Bend Police DepartmentCity
Elk Park Police DepartmentCity
Fremont Police DepartmentCity
Garysburg Police DepartmentCity
Gaston Police DepartmentCity
Glen Alpine Police DepartmentCity
Hot Springs Police DepartmentCity
Jackson Police DepartmentCity
Kenly Police DepartmentCity
Kure Beach Police DepartmentCity
Lake Royale Police DepartmentCity
Lake Waccamaw Police DepartmentCity
Lees-McRae CollegeUniversity or College
Lewiston Woodville Police DepartmentCity
Lilesville Police DepartmentCity
Littleton Police DepartmentCity
Locust Police DepartmentCity
Maiden Police DepartmentCity
Marshall Police DepartmentCity
Mecklenburg County Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Enforcement OfficeOther
Meredith CollegeUniversity or College
Misenheimer Police DepartmentCity
Montreat Police DepartmentCity
Morven Police DepartmentCity
Nash County Alcoholic Beverage Control EnforcementOther
Norlina Police DepartmentCity
North Carolina Division of ForestryOther State Agency
North Carolina Highway PatrolState Police
North Carolina Secretary of State, Trademark EnforcementOther State Agency
North Carolina State Bureau of InvestigationOther State Agency
Norwood Police DepartmentCity
Oakboro Police DepartmentCity
Old Fort Police DepartmentCity
Parkton Police DepartmentCity
Piedmont Triad International AirportOther
Pikeville Police DepartmentCity
Pinetops Police DepartmentCity
Pink Hill Police DepartmentCity
Polkton Police DepartmentCity
Queens UniversityUniversity or College
Rhodhiss Police DepartmentCity
Rich Square Police DepartmentCity
River Bend Police DepartmentCity
Rose Hill Police DepartmentCity
Saint Augustine's UniversityUniversity or College
Seagrove Police DepartmentCity
Spindale Police DepartmentCity
Spring Hope Police DepartmentCity
Stanfield Police DepartmentCity
State FairgroundsOther State Agency
State Park Rangers: Carvers CreekOther State Agency
State Park Rangers: Dismal SwampOther State Agency
State Park Rangers: Grandfather MountainOther State Agency
State Park Rangers: Jones LakeOther State Agency
State Park Rangers: Medoc MountainOther State Agency
State Park Rangers: Singletary LakeOther State Agency
Stedman Police DepartmentCity
Topsail Beach Police DepartmentCity
Vanceboro Police DepartmentCity
Walnut Creek Police DepartmentCity
Whitakers Police DepartmentCity
Winfall Police DepartmentCity
Winton Police DepartmentCity

Counties and agencies: no data yet

Every agency in North Carolina by county, with the year each began sending incident detail to the FBI. They will come from the FBI's agency list and its NIBRS master files.

Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, pulled 2026-09-26.

State crime reporting

Program: North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Crime Reporting (UCR/NIBRS)
Incident reporting: NC SBI state NIBRS repository (FBI-certified September 9, 2019; agencies switched January 1, 2018)
Annual report: Crime in North Carolina - Annual Summary Report of Uniform Crime Reporting DataLatest edition: 2024. Editions online 2008 to 2024.
Online portal: NCSBI Summary Statistics (on-demand reports) and legacy Crime in North Carolina siteData since 1993.
What changed: Agencies moved to NIBRS on January 1, 2018; SBI converts NIBRS back to SRS format for trend reports. A NIBRS Statistics page is marked 'Coming soon'.

Links and years checked 2026-09-26.

North Carolina sources

2 sources

SBI Crime StatisticsState · NC
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation · Incidents, Arrests · html, pdf · annual
State UCR/NIBRS repository run by SBI.
NC Criminal/Infraction Case Activity Report by CountyState · NC
North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts · Courts · xlsx, xls · annual
County (100): filed, disposed, pending, age, disposition types for superior (CRS), district (CR), infractions, by most serious charge. FY2010-11 to FY2025-26. Terms: noncommercial use, no spiders that affect the site. Loaded.

Plus 83 national sources, from the FBI, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Census Bureau, the courts, and others.