Access Free Davidson County Public Records: Look Up Anyone’s Information

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Free Davidson County Public Records Search

Access Davidson County Records: marriage, divorce, warrants, arrests, probation, criminal, court, background checks, and all public records.

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Davidson County public records can be accessed for free and can help you learn more about another person or figure out what’s on your own record.

This resources provides streamlined access to property information, people’s marital status, prisoner details, arrests, criminal offenses, probation, warrants and more. This information is made available thanks to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and North Carolina Public Records Laws. However, while citizens have a right to this information, knowing where to look and how to submit record requests is vital.

Some records can be found online, while others may only be obtained through background check reports or visiting the appropriate agency in person. Use the tools, processes and links within to begin searching public records in Davidson County, North Carolina.

This resource was written by Attorney Robert Bailey Jr, who holds a Juris Doctorate from Widener University School of Law.

How To Look Up Arrest Records for Free in Davidson County NC

If you want to access Davidson County arrest records, you can perform a free public records search in a couple of different ways. The type of search you perform largely depends on the information you possess and what you are specifically looking for.

County Searches: These are the broadest searches for county arrest information and involve searching jail records for inmate information. If a person was arrested in Davidson County and you have their name, you can perform a free public record search to access arrest and inmate information and, often, find someone’s mugshot.

Local Law Enforcement Agencies: For various reasons, you may want to search with local police departments. Searching at the city level can be useful if you are looking for a police report or specific arrest details. Information from the arresting agency can provide details not provided by searching with the online county resources.

Below are tools and resources that will assist you with accessing Davidson County bookings and arrest information.

Acquire Recent Arrest Details Through the Davidson County Jail

To search public records in the county for information on recent arrests, you can access the Active Inmate List provided by the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, which is responsible for maintaining the county jail.¹

The Active Inmate List is limited to providing the name, booking number and the date and time they were incarcerated. This list is limited to active inmates, so this is not a helpful option if you are looking up incarceration data for a person who has been released from jail.

In addition, there is no search tool for the active inmate list. However, the list is in alphabetical order, so finding the person you are looking for should be easy if you know their name. If you are looking for a recently arrested person, be aware that this list is updated at noon each weekday.

If you have questions regarding an inmate’s status, charges and other related questions, you can contact the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office by phone at 336-242-2105. Alternatively, if you want to talk to someone in person, you can go to the below address:

Davidson County Sheriff’s Office
2511 East Highway 64
Lexington, North Carolina 27292

The Davidson County Jail can be contacted by phone at 336-242-2140. The jail is located at the address below:

Davidson County Jail
110 West Center St. 
Lexington, North Carolina 27292

Find Arrest Details & Police Reports From Davidson County Municipal Police Departments

To acquire arrest details and police reports, you may have to contact the local law enforcement agency responsible for the arrest. This type of direct inquiry is especially needed in Davidson County, as the sheriff’s office provides limited information online.

Reaching out to local law enforcement can provide a searcher with detailed information you may need to file a claim or for certain legal reasons. Also, since the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office only updates its Active Inmate List 5 times per week, depending on when you check, the information might not even be available at the county level.

Here is the contact information for police departments that operate in Davidson County:

Police Department	Address	Phone Number
High Point Police Department	1730 Westchester Dr. High Point, North Carolina 27262	336-883-3224
Lexington Police Report	106 North Main St. Lexington, North Carolina 27292	336-243-3302
Thomasville Police Department	250 West Main St. Thomasville, North Carolina 27360	336-475-4260
Denton Police Department	101 W. Newsom Ave. Denton, North Carolina 27239	336-859-2164

Note: While there are several other towns, townships and communities in Davidson County, they are under the jurisdiction of the sheriff’s office. 

How To Find Out if Someone Has a History of Crime in Davidson County NC

Davidson County public records can provide searchers with information on someone’s criminal history and current sentencing status as a result of any convictions. 

A person’s criminal history contains arrest information and much more. While arrest information may help you understand why a person was arrested for a crime and where they are incarcerated, it does not typically tell the whole story. For instance, an arrest record typically will not inform you whether a person was convicted of any crimes and what they were sentenced to.

To get this information and more, you will need to search for Davidson County criminal records. When you look up someone’s criminal record in Davidson County, you will be able to view detailed records describing the charges against a person, their conviction(s) and sentencing information.

Through these records, you can also find out if a person has a warrant issued for their arrest, whether they are incarcerated or on probation and any other related information. Use the information provided below to search Davidson County judicial records and more for a person’s criminal history.

Check Criminal Records via the Davidson County Courthouse

Since criminal records are not available online in Davidson County, your best option is to search for this information in person.

Criminal cases in Davidson County are handled under North Carolina’s unified court system. Understanding the court system will help you to know where certain criminal cases and proceedings may have occurred.

Superior Court: This court is responsible for hearing felony crimes.

District Court: This court is responsible for hearing less serious criminal cases, often referred to as misdemeanors.

Magistrates: As it pertains to criminal matters, magistrate courts are largely responsible for preliminary proceedings.

The Davidson County Courthouse has two different locations. The primary location is at the address below:

Davidson County Courthouse
110 W. Center St. 
Lexington, North Carolina 27292

You can contact them by phone at 336-242-6701. You can also contact Davidson County’s Thomasville Branch by phone at 336-474-3185. They are located at the following location:

Davidson County Courthouse
Thomasville Branch
22 Randolph St. 
Thomasville, North Carolina 27360

The hours of availability for both courthouses are Monday through Friday, from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.

Criminal records can be accessed by using the self-service terminals provided in the Clerk of Court’s Office. For other means of searching criminal records, contact the courthouse directly.

Determine if Someone Has a Criminal Record via the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction Offender Search (Check Davidson & Other Counties)

If you want to perform a free criminal record check in Davidson County — or any other county in the state — your only current online option is to use the Offender Search provided by the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (NC DAC).

Note: Davidson County does not currently have its own online search tool to access criminal records (the North Carolina eCourts Portal is planned to be launched in Davidson County in the future).

You can use this online search tool to find active and inactive inmates as well as those on probation or parole. To find a person’s criminal history, start by entering their name. The search tool provides you with the option to check “last name sounds like” if you are not exactly sure how to spell the person’s name.

Other search criteria you can include are a person’s offender number, gender, race, ethnic group and birth date (this can be the exact date, or you can set it as a range to be within 1-15 years of the information you entered).

Once you perform a search, the results will provide some general information about the person, including identifying information (e.g., race, gender, birth date) and their offender number. Click on the offender number of the person you want to search.

At the top of the page, you can view summary information on the offender, including the status of their probation, parole or release. Next, you can see their legal name and any aliases for the person.

The next section, the offender sentence history, will provide information on the person’s criminal record. Here, you can view the offense(s) a person committed, the date the offense occurred and the date they were convicted. The criminal history will also indicate what type of offense their charge was classified as (e.g., misdemeanor or felony).

In addition, you can view the sentence number and the type of sentence they were issued related to their conviction. If you plan to look up the case record, there is additional helpful information that will assist you with your search. The search results will provide both the county where the person was convicted along with the docket number.

This information can be used to track down a person’s criminal case when searching for the criminal court records.

This tool will have all of a person’s offenses in North Carolina, so if the person has more than one conviction, you can view the same type of information for previous offenses.

There are a couple of additional tools provided by the NC DAC that could provide additional information on a person’s criminal history. The one option is to see if the person was ever involved in any prison escapes or captures. Here, you can select Davidson County and enter the person’s last name.

If a person engaged in this type of action, you can view their date of escape, return and the type of escape. You can also perform an absconder search to see if a person has not checked in as required with their probation or parole officer.

Finally, you can specifically search to see if an inmate was released from prison. To do so, select Davidson County, the year and month you believe they were released (if available) and the person’s last name. The search results will let you know if a person was released, when they were released and additional sentencing information.

How To Verify if You or Someone Else Has an Arrest Warrant in Davidson County

If you want to determine whether a particular individual has any Davidson County warrants, one option is to look up criminal records in person. You can do so by going in person to the Davidson County Clerk of Court and using one of their self-service terminals at:

Davidson County Courthouse
110 West Center St. 
Lexington, North Carolina 27293

When searching through criminal records, look for the docket entries. The docket entries provide detailed information about every court event that happens in a particular case. This section should highlight the date any warrants were issued and served along with other relevant information.

A searcher may also want to contact the criminal magistrate as they are responsible for, among other things, issuing warrants. The Criminal Magistrate can be contacted by phone at 336-242-6717.

You might also want to contact police departments using the contact information provided earlier. Some police departments, such as the Lexington Police Department, will provide warrant and criminal summons information in person.⁴

Lastly, you can also perform a search for absconders with the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, as they are people who likely have warrants issued for them. To perform this search, select Davidson County and enter the last name of the person you want to search. If the person has not followed their sentencing requirements for supervision, they will be listed here as an absconder.

You can also view other information here about the person’s criminal record.

Alternatively, you can look up statewide North Carolina warrant details for a broader search.

How To Look Up Probation Information in Davidson County NC

If a person wants to check public records for people on probation in Davidson County, one option is to use the Offender Search Tool provided by the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections. Begin by performing an offender search using whatever information you have available to enter into the search criteria.

When you find the person you want to search for probation information, click on their offender number. At the top of the inmate’s record, you can see whether their probation (or parole) is active. If so, below that, you can see the specific office responsible for handling their supervision.

To get further specific information on a person’s probation, you can navigate to the section titled “most recent period of supervision record.” Here, you can confirm if they were specifically required to be on probation by looking at both the sentence type and commitment type. This section will also inform you as to how long the person is required to be under supervision.

Note: Often, state tools do not provide county information. If you find probation information using this search tool, confirm the information by checking the information with the Davidson County Clerk of Court or local probation department. 

For additional probationer information in Davidson County, you can try contacting the adult probation and parole department. You can contact them by phone at 336-249-6166 or in person at:

Davidson County Adult Probation & Parole Department
106 Alma Owens Dr. 
Lexington, North Carolina 27292

How To Access Criminal Records in North Carolina via State & Federal Resources

You can expand your search of Davidson County public records to find criminal information on a person throughout North Carolina. While you may have some records about a person, a statewide search may highlight additional information you were not aware of.

There are several tools to search North Carolina’s public records for criminal information. You can also use certain federal resources to expand your search throughout the United States.

Here are some great tools for finding public criminal records in North Carolina (including federal offenses):

NC Department of Adult Correction Offender Search: As covered in-depth above, this tool can be used to search criminal offenders (e.g., state prisoners, probationers and parolees) in the NC Department of Corrections system. They also provide options to search for escapes and captures by county, absconders and inmate releases.

North Carolina Sex Offender & Public Protection Registry: This online search tool provided by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation provides several options for searching individuals who are required to register as sex offenders.⁷ You can search by your address, offender information, sex registration number and latitude and longitude points.

North Carolina eCourts Portal: An online search tool for criminal records in North Carolina. While it will eventually be available in every county in North Carolina, it is only available in the following counties: Harnett, Johnston, Lee, and Wake. Mecklenburg County criminal records can also be searched using this tool starting October 9, 2023.

U.S. DOJ National Sex Offender Registry: An online search tool provided by the U.S. Department of Justice allows you to search for people throughout the United States who are required to register as sex offenders. A person can search for a person by name, or they can perform an address radius search. This option allows you to set an address and search for convicted sex offenders within a certain radius.

Federal Inmate Bureau of Prisons Search Tool: This online search tool is specifically designed to find individuals incarcerated in federal prisons. You can use this search tool to find a person by name or identifying number (e.g., BOP or FBI number). This tool will provide basic descriptive information about an inmate along with their register number and the date they were released (or scheduled to be released).

If they are still incarcerated, you can view what particular prison they are incarcerated in.

View Court Records in Davidson County North Carolina

Currently, there are no available options to perform a Davidson County case search online.

If you want to access Davidson County court records, you will have to perform a search in person or call the courthouse to see if there are other options for accessing these documents.

Below is the contact information for the two courthouse locations in Davidson County:

Davidson County Courthouse
110 W. Center St. 
Lexington, North Carolina 27292

Phone: 336-242-6701

Davidson County Courthouse
Thomasville Branch
22 Randolph St. 
Thomasville, North Carolina 27360

Phone: 336-474-3185

These court locations contain the Davidson County Superior and District Courts. They are responsible for handling all cases in the county, including civil, criminal and family matters.

You may also try submitting a public records request with the North Carolina Judicial Branch and detail the specific type of court records you are looking for.

How To Retrieve Davidson County Vital Records: Marriage, Divorce, Birth & Death Records (NC)

Another valuable group of Davidson County public records are vital records, which include personal information about people’s marital status along with details about births and deaths.

This information (commonly referred to as vital records) can be used to find out if someone is married, determine where and when they were born and much more.

People use vital records for a variety of personal and business reasons. Personally, you may just want to learn more about a person. In particular, these types of records are popular for people who want to learn more about their family’s history and perform a genealogy search.

There are also times when you cannot perform an action without a certified copy of a vital record. Here is an example of when you may need a certified copy of each type of vital record:

Marriage: A person may need a certified copy of a marriage record as part of a request to be added to someone’s health insurance policy.

Divorce: You may need a certified copy of a divorce decree to apply for a new marriage license.

Certificate of Birth: A certified copy of a birth certificate can be needed for many things, including an application for a U.S. passport.

Certificate of Death: To probate and administer the estate of a decedent, you will need a certified copy of a person’s death record.

We will now outline how to access and request this information. In addition, you can learn about any restrictions on the general public when it comes to these vital records.

Verify Marital Status & Obtain Certificates in Davidson County via the Register of Deeds or Clerk of Court

If you want to check if someone is married, you can access this information, as marriage and divorce records are considered public records in Davidson County and throughout North Carolina.

The Davidson County Register of Deeds provides an online directory to search marriage records.

To perform a search, you just have to enter a person’s name and the date of their marriage (or date range). The results will show you both party’s names, the date the marriage license was issued and the date they were married.

You can also get the book and page number for the marriage record.

For Davidson County marriage records, you can request either a certified or uncertified copy through the Davidson County Register of Deeds.¹⁰ Uncertified copies are available to anyone, while certified copies are restricted to the person listed on the record, family members (e.g., parents, siblings etc.), a person with a provable legal interest or a legal representative of any of these people.

You can submit a request for a marriage record online. You also have the option of requesting a marriage record by mail. To do so, you must send an application for vital records, along with your fee and a copy of your government-issued identification, to the address below:

Davidson County Register of Deeds
P.O. Box 464
Lexington, North Carolina 27293

You may have to contact the Davidson County Register of Deeds to inquire about an application for a vital record, as it is not made available on their website. You can call them at 336-242-2150 to ask them about their vital records application and any other questions you may have. If you would like to talk to someone in person, you can go to:

Davidson County Register of Deeds
915 Greensboro St. 
Lexington, North Carolina 27292

The cost of either a certified marriage or divorce record is $10.00 and $1.00 for an uncertified copy. If you plan to call them or go in person, they are open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Monday through Friday).

If you want a copy of any Davidson County divorce records, you can request it through the Clerk of Courts. You can call them at 336-242-6700 to ask what is needed to request a record or search these documents in person. They are located at this address:

Davidson County Courthouse
110 West Center St. 
Lexington, North Carolina 27293

You can also request both marriage and divorce records through the North Carolina Office of Vital Records. They provide marriage records from 1962 to the present and divorce records from 1958 to the present.

In-person requests can be made by scheduling an appointment online. Mailed requests can be made by completing an Application for Marriage Certificate or Application for Divorce Record and mailing it, along with your fee, to the address below:

North Carolina Vital Records
Attn: VC Certificate Orders
1903 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699

The cost is $24.00, regardless of whether the record you requested is found. Additional copies can be requested for $15.00 each.

Finally, you can make an online request for both marriage and divorce records through an approved third-party vendor, VitalChek.¹² You can also call VitalChek at +1-800-669-8310 to request these records.

Acquire Death & Birth Certificates in Davidson County via the Register of Deeds

General information on birth and death records is available to the public in Davidson County (and throughout North Carolina). The Register of Deeds provides an Online Vital Records Search Tool. This tool can be used to search both birth and death records in Davidson County.

A person can perform a search by either the child’s name or the parent’s name. Once you choose how you want to search for the record, you can enter the person’s name and event date (or date range).

Once you enter your information, you can view the person’s date of birth or death along with the book and page number where the record is located. You can also view the parent’s name of the person you are searching for.

Both certified copies (with certain restrictions) and uncertified copies of birth certificates and death certificates can be requested from the Davidson County Register of Deeds. Certified copies of birth and death records in Davidson County are limited to a small group of people.

Those people include the following:

• Person listed on the record (for birth certificates)
• Spouse
• Parent (or step-parent)
• Siblings (Step-siblings)
• Children (step-children)
• Grandchildren
• Grandparents
• A person who has a legal interest in personal or property rights
• A legal representative of someone listed above

You can request a record by submitting a request online. You can also get a certified copy of a birth or death record by mailing an application for vital records, along with a fee and a copy of your government-issued identification, to the address below:

Davidson County Register of Deeds
P.O. Box 464
Lexington, North Carolina 27293

The Register of Deeds website does not provide an application to request a birth or death record online. You can contact them by phone at 336-242-2150 to ask them how to obtain this application and for any additional information. If you would like to talk to someone in person, you can go to their office located at the below address:

Davidson County Register of Deeds
915 Greensboro St. 
Lexington, North Carolina 27292

The cost of either a certified birth or death record is $10.00. An uncertified copy costs $1.00. Their hours of availability are Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

You can also request a birth or death record from the North Carolina Office of Vital Records. Birth certificates are available from 1913 to the present, while death records are available from 1930 to the present. You have two options for ordering these vital records directly with the North Carolina Office of Vital Records.

First, you can order a birth or death record in person. For in-person requests, you are required to schedule an appointment. Appointments can be made by using the NC appointment scheduler or calling them at 984-236-7268.

For mail-in requests, you can complete either an Application for an NC birth certificate or a death certificate. Once this form is completed and signed, it can be mailed to the below address:

North Carolina Vital Records
ATTN: VC Certificate Orders
1903 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699

You must include the $24 fee ($15.00 for each additional certificate) with the application. The $24.00 fee is a search fee and will be charged regardless of whether a matching record is found.

You can also request a birth or death record online from VitalChek, an approved third-party vendor. You can also request records from them by calling them at +1-800-669-8310.

Find Property Ownership & Tax Information in Davidson County for Free

The Davidson County Tax Assessor’s Office provides a public records repository of property information you can search using their online portal. This public index of property records provides four different types of searches you can conduct.

Basic Search: You can search property records with this tool by owner name, address, parcel number and more. The search results will provide you with a summary that includes the owner’s name, address, parcel number, PIN and tax number. There are two options to get additional information.

First, you can click on the property owner’s name. Here, you can view a variety of information, including general identifying information about the relevant tax codes, township and zoning for the piece of real property. A searcher can also view deed information (including the book and page number), which can be helpful if a person wants to request a copy of the record.

Finally, you can also get financial information, which could be helpful if you are considering purchasing this house or another property in the same area. Here, you can find the current property values (both market and assessed). In addition, you can see all sales information on the property.

Back at the results page, you can also click on the “PRC” link, which will show you the Property Record Card. This has some overlapping information, but you can also find additional data about the property that may be useful.

Real Estate Search: This search focuses on specific details of the property, some of which you can see with the basic search. The Real Estate search has several different tabs that allow you to get specific information on the land, building tax codes and more.

Tax Bill Search: This tool focuses on the taxes for a particular property. This tool is helpful in many ways, especially if you are looking to make a real estate purchase. When you use this search tool, you can see the total taxes for a particular property and the total amount due.

You can also see when the last tax payment was made for a property.

Sales Search: This search tool provides sales information that can be searched by neighborhood and township, along with many other options. Here you can find sales information for residential, commercial and other types of property.

Further inquiries or in-person service can be found via the contact information listed below:

Davidson County Tax Assessor’s Office
913 Greensboro St.
Floor 3 – Ste. 303
Lexington North Carolina 27292

Phone: 336.242.2160
Fax: 336.242.2851
Hours: M-F 8am — 5pm

Using Davidson County Public Records Ethically & Understanding Your Rights

At this point, as a searcher, you now have several tools and resources to search for records online and in person. However, there are rules and requirements when it comes to using these records in an ethical and responsible manner.

Ethical use of public records is required whether you are using the records for personal or professional use. However, the rules and requirements differ greatly depending on how you are using these public records.

For personal use, you need to make sure that these records are not used in any way to commit a criminal act. Beyond this restriction, you also need to make sure that you are actually using the records for personal use. For instance, you can not perform a search for personal use and then use those records to make an employment or other type of business decision.

Other than that, you can proceed with your use of public records. You are not even required to request the person’s consent before beginning your public records search.

Using public records for professional reasons is often essential. Determining whether to provide a loan or hire a person often requires confirming certain vital information. However, when public records are used for professional purposes, there are several safeguards to protect people being searched.

Here are some areas a person must be aware of if they are using public records for professional reasons:

Consent: Unlike personal use, the professional use of public records requires written confirmation of a person’s consent. If a person fails to receive consent, they can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).¹⁵

Notice: If a person uses public records to reject a person for some professional or business request (e.g., rental application, credit request etc.), they must properly notify the individual. Failure to do so can also be reported to the FTC.

Creditworthiness: If you are using consumer information for professional purposes, then you are required to abide by the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).¹⁶ The FCRA provides several requirements revolving around transparency with the person being searched and their ability to challenge any information provided to a requester.

Discrimination: An individual can file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) if they were unlawfully discriminated against because of information found in their public records. This could be discrimination as a person in a protected class or based on criminal record information.

Once you are confident that you understand your responsibilities, it is time to use the tools and resources provided in this article to search Davidson County public records; you can also broaden your search to find statewide public information using the North Carolina public record search tutorial.