North Carolina Criminal Court Records Search: Cases & Dockets

Q: Can I search North Carolina criminal court cases online?

Yes. North Carolina eCourts Portal provides online public case searching across all 100 counties. All counties use Enterprise Justice as of October 13, 2025.

Q: How much is a certified North Carolina criminal background check?

The current fee is twenty-five dollars for a certified name-based criminal record search through a county Clerk of Superior Court. The search covers that single county.

Q: How do I get my own North Carolina fingerprint-based criminal history?

Use the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Right to Review process. The current state-only fingerprint-based personal review fee is fourteen dollars.

Q: Does eCourts Portal show every North Carolina court record?

No. Sealed, confidential and otherwise restricted records are not viewable by ordinary public users. Juvenile case records and unreturned criminal warrants are examples of restricted records.

Q: Does North Carolina DAC show county jail inmates?

No. The Department of Adult Correction states that its offender database does not include county jail records. Use the relevant county sheriff or detention center.

Q: Where do I search federal criminal cases from North Carolina?

Federal criminal cases are separate from North Carolina state courts. Search federal district court records through PACER or use the PACER Case Locator when you do not know the federal district.

North Carolina official court-records guide

Search North Carolina criminal cases, dockets and court records without confusing a case lookup with an official background check

North Carolina now uses the eCourts Enterprise Justice system in all 100 counties. The public eCourts Portal can be used to search many criminal cases, dockets, hearings, dispositions and public documents online. But Portal is not the official court record and the North Carolina Judicial Branch specifically directs people seeking criminal background checks to the Clerk of Superior Court rather than relying on Portal alone.

Coverage: all 100 North Carolina counties eCourts statewide: since October 13, 2025 Information checked: September 24, 2026 Primary sources: North Carolina Judicial Branch, SBI and DAC

Start with your purpose. If you simply want to locate a public criminal case, use eCourts Portal. If you need an official certified criminal-background search, contact the Clerk of Superior Court. If you need your own fingerprint-based state criminal history, use the North Carolina SBI Right to Review process.

Online case lookup

eCourts Portal

Search public criminal cases, docket events, hearings, dispositions and available documents statewide.

Open eCourts Portal

Official certified check

Clerk of Superior Court

Request a certified name-based criminal record search for one county using Form AOC-CR-314.

Background-check options

Free courthouse search

Public Access Terminal

Search statewide or county criminal court records for yourself or others at courthouse public computers.

Courthouse access

Your own NC history

SBI Right to Review

Request your fingerprint-based North Carolina criminal-history record directly from the SBI.

SBI personal review

Prison / probation / parole

NC DAC Offender Search

Search North Carolina state prisoners, probationers and parolees, including historical data back to 1972.

Search offender records

County courthouse

Find the Clerk of Court

Locate the correct county courthouse when you need an official file, certified copy or paper record.

Find local courthouse

Which North Carolina criminal-record search should you use?

“Criminal records” can mean several different things in North Carolina. A public court docket, certified county background check, SBI fingerprint record and Department of Adult Correction record answer different questions.

You need	Best official source	Coverage	Key limitation
Public criminal case or docket	eCourts Portal	All 100 counties	Portal is not the official court record
Certified criminal background check	County Clerk of Superior Court	One county per certified search	Current fee is $25
Free non-certified statewide court background search	Courthouse public terminal	Statewide or county	Not certified; printing fees may apply
Your own fingerprint-based North Carolina criminal history	North Carolina SBI Right to Review	North Carolina criminal-history repository	Only available for your own record through this public process
State prison, probation or parole record	NC Department of Adult Correction	State offenders, probationers and parolees	Does not include county jail records
Police or investigative report	Investigating law-enforcement agency	Agency-specific	The complete investigative file may not be public
Federal criminal case	PACER	Federal courts	Separate from North Carolina state courts

The most common mistake: treating an eCourts Portal name search as a certified statewide criminal-background check. North Carolina’s Judicial Branch says people conducting background checks should use the Clerk of Superior Court process instead.

North Carolina eCourts Portal criminal case search

North Carolina completed its eCourts conversion in all 100 counties on October 13, 2025. Every county now uses the Enterprise Justice (Odyssey) electronic filing and case-management system.

The public eCourts Portal provides remote access to publicly available case information. Public registration is not required for ordinary anonymous searches.

Portal tool

Smart Search

Find cases and open the detailed Case Summary / Register of Actions.

Portal tool

Search Hearings

Find hearing dates, locations and court-calendar information.

Portal tool

Make Payments

Pay qualifying criminal fines, fees, restitution and other supported court obligations.

Portal tool

NC Judgment Search

Search judgment indexes by party or case number, including criminal judgment entries.

Open eCourts Portal and choose Smart Search

Smart Search is the main tool for locating criminal case information statewide.

Search by case number or party name

A known case number is usually the most precise option. For name searching, use the defendant’s correct legal name and then narrow the results.

Use Advanced Filtering Options

Portal allows filtering by location, party criteria, date of birth where supported, case type, status and filing-date range.

Open the Case Summary

Review parties, case events, hearings, dispositions and financial information when available.

Open public documents when available

Some public court documents can be viewed remotely. Restricted, sealed and confidential records will not be displayed to ordinary public users.

Contact the county Clerk when you need an official record

Portal access is informational. Certified copies and the official court file come from the Clerk of Superior Court.

Smart Search tips for finding the correct North Carolina criminal case

The statewide Portal is powerful, but a common name can generate many results. Use filters instead of choosing the first matching name.

county or court location
case number
defendant’s full legal name
date of birth when supported
case type
case status
filing-date range
hearing information

Wildcard searching

North Carolina’s Portal guidance allows wildcard searches using an asterisk. For a name search, at least three characters of the last name and at least one character of the first name can be followed by *.

Example: Smi*, J*

Portal search tip: the Judicial Branch recommends Smart Search as the most consistent party-name or case-number search. If a result looks incomplete, use advanced filters rather than switching randomly between search types.

How to read a North Carolina criminal case docket

A case listing is not the same thing as a conviction. Read the case events and final disposition before drawing conclusions.

Docket item	What it generally means	What to verify
Case Summary	Overall electronic case record	Correct county, case number and defendant
Case Events	Chronological actions in the court file	Newest events may change the meaning of earlier entries
Charge	Offense alleged against the defendant	A charge alone does not establish guilt
Disposition	How a charge or case was resolved	Conviction, dismissal, acquittal or other outcome
Hearings	Scheduled or completed court proceedings	Date, courtroom, location and whether later rescheduled
Financial Information	Supported costs, fines or balances	Do not confuse financial entries with case disposition
Public Document	An electronically accessible filing or order	Not every public document is necessarily available remotely

Arrest ≠ charge ≠ conviction. A defendant can be arrested and never convicted, or a charge can later be dismissed or changed. The disposition and final judgment are more informative than the first docket entry.

North Carolina eCourts criminal case-number format

Enterprise Justice case numbers contain four main parts: a two-digit year, case-type letters, a six-digit sequence number and a three-digit county identifier.

Example: 21CR000003-910

Year

The first two digits identify the case year.

Case type

CR indicates a criminal case.

000003

Sequence

The six-digit number identifies the case sequence.

910

County identifier

The final three digits identify the county/location code in Enterprise Justice.

Older citation or paperwork? Historical case-number formatting can differ from newer Enterprise Justice formatting. If Portal does not accept an old number, search by defendant and county or ask the county Clerk for help.

North Carolina District Court vs Superior Court criminal records

Understanding the two trial-court levels helps explain why a criminal case may have events in more than one court.

District Court

Misdemeanors and infractions

District Court primarily handles misdemeanor criminal cases and infractions. Felony cases can also begin there for early proceedings such as first appearances and probable-cause matters.

Superior Court

Felonies and appeals

Superior Court handles felony trials and also hears misdemeanor and infraction appeals from District Court.

Typical criminal-case path

Step 1

Charge / arrest

A warrant, summons or citation can begin the criminal process.

Step 2

District Court

Misdemeanors are generally tried here; felony preliminary matters also occur here.

Step 3

Superior Court

Felony trials and qualifying appeals from District Court proceed here.

Step 4

Appellate Division

Qualifying appeals can proceed to the Court of Appeals and, in some matters, Supreme Court.

North Carolina infraction: an infraction is a non-criminal violation even though infractions are generally handled through criminal-court procedures.

eCourts Portal is useful—but it is not the official court record

The North Carolina Judicial Branch expressly states that eCourts Portal provides internet access to public docket information and public documents, but Portal itself is not the official court record.

When you need an official or certified document, contact the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the criminal case was filed.

Good use of Portal

Research and case navigation

find a case
check public docket events
find hearing information
review dispositions
view available public documents

Use the Clerk instead

Official record needs

certified court copy
official background search
paper court file
older or non-remote record
record unavailable through Portal

North Carolina criminal background checks: three official options

1. Certified single-county background check

A Clerk of Superior Court can conduct a certified name-based criminal record search for yourself or another person in that county.

Use Form AOC-CR-314. The current court fee is $25.

By mail

Accepted payment

Money order or certified check. The Judicial Branch says personal checks are not accepted for this request.

In person

Accepted payment

Credit card, cash, money order or certified check.

Certified does not mean statewide. The $25 Clerk-certified criminal record search checks court records in that single county.

2. Free statewide non-certified courthouse search

Public-access computers in Clerk of Superior Court offices can be used to search criminal records for yourself or another person, including statewide searching, without a search fee.

The result is not certified, and printing charges can apply.

3. SBI fingerprint-based personal review

If you need your own North Carolina criminal-history record from the state’s criminal-history repository, use the SBI Right to Review process described below.

North Carolina SBI Right to Review: your own fingerprint criminal history

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is the state’s central criminal-history repository. Its public personal-review process is called Right to Review.

This is a fingerprint-based search of North Carolina criminal-history information associated with fingerprints submitted by North Carolina arresting agencies.

Current SBI fee

$14 per North Carolina Right to Review request

The SBI accepts a money order or certified check for this process. Cash, credit cards and personal checks are not accepted under the current instructions.

Download the SBI Right to Review form

Use the current form provided by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

Get a complete fingerprint card

The SBI requires legible fingerprints, including all ten fingers unless a physical exception applies. Local law-enforcement agencies may provide fingerprinting services.

Include the current $14 payment

Each requested copy requires its own fee.

Submit the request using SBI instructions

SBI processes the fingerprint-based search and provides a response on SBI letterhead.

North Carolina only: the SBI Right to Review is a North Carolina state criminal-history check. For a national FBI Identity History Summary, use the separate FBI fingerprint process.

Open SBI Personal Review

North Carolina criminal court copies and certification fees

When a Portal image or docket entry is not enough, request the actual court document from the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the case is filed.

Service	Current published fee	What it means
Criminal record search	$25	Certified name-based Clerk criminal record search under the current fee schedule.
Copy preparation – first page of each document	$2	Current miscellaneous court-record copy charge.
Each additional page	$0.25	Additional page of the same document.
Certificate under seal	$3	Certification/seal fee under the current published fee chart.
Exemplification of records	$10	Higher form of authentication when required.

Fees can change by statute or updated court schedule. Confirm the current amount with the Clerk before mailing payment or traveling to a courthouse.

Search North Carolina criminal records at any courthouse public terminal

North Carolina provides public, self-service terminals in Clerk of Superior Court offices. These terminals remain useful even though eCourts Portal is statewide.

At a public courthouse terminal, users can search criminal cases using information such as:

defendant name
case number
victim name
witness name
county
case status

Background-check advantage: the Judicial Branch says courthouse public computers may be used for a free non-certified criminal-record search in any county or statewide.

Use the North Carolina Judicial Branch courthouse directory to find the correct Clerk’s office.

What if an older North Carolina criminal record is not online?

Statewide eCourts availability does not mean every historical paper file has been converted into a remotely viewable document.

If Portal confirms a case but does not provide the record you need:

Identify the county where the case was filed

Trial court files are maintained through the county Clerk of Superior Court.

Contact that county Clerk

Ask whether the record is electronic, archived, stored on paper or otherwise available for inspection.

Request the specific document

Supplying the case number, defendant name and approximate filing year can make retrieval easier.

Ask about copying or certification

If the record is available, the Clerk can explain the applicable copy and certification fee.

North Carolina warrants and restricted Portal records

Magistrates are among the judicial officials who can issue warrants for arrest in North Carolina. But not every warrant record is publicly visible through ordinary Portal access.

Important eCourts restriction: North Carolina’s Portal guidance identifies unreturned criminal warrants among restricted records that ordinary public users cannot view.

If you are trying to confirm a warrant involving yourself, do not rely on an unofficial warrant-search site. Contact the relevant Clerk of Court or law-enforcement agency for current official guidance.

Once a criminal case becomes public and docketed, public case information may be available in Portal, subject to applicable confidentiality and access rules.

Police reports are not North Carolina court records

A police report is generally maintained by the law-enforcement agency that investigated the incident, not by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts.

The Judicial Branch advises people seeking police reports to contact the investigating law-enforcement agency.

Police / Sheriff

Agency record

Arrest reports, offense reports, investigative material and incident records originate with law enforcement.

Clerk of Court

Court record

Filed charges, hearings, dispositions, judgments and court documents belong to the judicial case file.

Do not expect every police document to be public. The Judicial Branch notes that a complete investigative report may not be a public record and may only be available through criminal discovery or another legally authorized process.

North Carolina prison, probation and parole records

Court records and correctional records answer different questions. The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction operates the Offender Public Information Search / Offender Locator.

The DAC search includes:

state prison offenders
probationers
parolees
historical offender information back to 1972
absconders
release information

County jails are separate. NC DAC specifically states that its offender database does not include people held only in county jails. For a county-jail inmate, use the sheriff or detention center for that county.

DAC also explains that most detailed offender records are confidential, while basic public information such as conviction, sentence, admission and release information may be publicly available.

NC DAC Offender Search

North Carolina juvenile court records are restricted

District Court also handles juvenile delinquency proceedings, but juvenile records do not follow the same public-access rules as ordinary adult criminal cases.

North Carolina eCourts guidance identifies juvenile case records as restricted records requiring legally authorized elevated access rather than ordinary public Portal access.

Do not try to bypass juvenile-record restrictions. If you are legally entitled to access a juvenile matter, contact the Clerk of Superior Court or an attorney for the appropriate procedure.

North Carolina criminal-record expunctions

An expunction is a legal process that can remove qualifying criminal charges or convictions from public records and seal or destroy specified government records.

North Carolina has multiple expunction statutes, and eligibility varies depending on the charge, disposition, conviction, age, time since the case and other factors.

Identify the correct expunction statute and form

The Judicial Branch provides different petition forms for different types of cases.

File in the county where you were charged or convicted

The petition is generally filed with the Clerk of Court in that county.

Follow the form-specific instructions

Some petitions require additional documents, affidavits or criminal-record checks.

Keep the signed expunction order

The Judicial Branch warns that after an expunction is completed, government files relating to the criminal process—including the expunction order—may be destroyed.

Private websites can lag behind. North Carolina warns that an expunction does not automatically erase information from every private database. If a private site still shows the case, you may need to contact that company separately.

Official NC Expunction Guide

What if your North Carolina criminal-history record is incorrect?

If the issue involves your own SBI criminal-history record, first complete the SBI Right to Review process.

After receiving the result, a person who believes the record is wrong can use the SBI’s written exception procedure to challenge inaccurate or incomplete criminal-history information.

SBI record correction

NCSBI CIIS / NICS-CCH Unit

3320 Garner Road
P.O. Box 29500
Raleigh, NC 27626-0500

Keep supporting documents. If a court disposition, dismissal or other official document shows why the record is wrong, keep a certified or official copy to support the correction request.

North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court criminal records

A criminal case can continue beyond District or Superior Court. North Carolina provides public appellate case information and court opinions through its appellate systems.

The Judicial Branch publishes both published and unpublished Court of Appeals opinions, along with Supreme Court opinions.

Court of Appeals

Intermediate appellate court

Reviews qualifying appeals from North Carolina trial courts, including criminal matters.

Supreme Court

State’s highest court

Reviews qualifying cases under North Carolina appellate jurisdiction.

Search appellate opinions: North Carolina Appellate Court Opinions .

Trial record vs appellate opinion: Portal and the county Clerk show the underlying trial case. An appellate opinion explains what an appellate court decided about issues raised on appeal.

Federal criminal court records in North Carolina

Federal prosecutions are separate from North Carolina state criminal cases. They will not be fully represented by a state eCourts search.

North Carolina is divided among three federal judicial districts:

Eastern District of North Carolina
Middle District of North Carolina
Western District of North Carolina

Federal electronic case records are searched through PACER.

If you do not know which federal district handled a case, the PACER Case Locator can help search the nationwide federal index.

North Carolina Justice Building and appellate court location

The North Carolina Supreme Court is located in the Justice Building in downtown Raleigh. This location is useful for appellate-court context, but it is not where you should go for an ordinary county criminal case copy.

State appellate location

North Carolina Justice Building

2 East Morgan Street
Raleigh, NC 27601

Need a trial-level criminal record? Do not travel to the Raleigh Justice Building just because it is the state’s appellate court location. Contact the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the criminal case was filed.

North Carolina criminal court-record search tips that save time

Tip 01

Use Portal for cases—not certified background checks

North Carolina explicitly separates Portal case searching from the official Clerk background-check process.

Tip 02

Filter by county

Common names can return many statewide results. County and DOB filters can greatly narrow the list.

Tip 03

Use the case number

A full Enterprise Justice case number is generally more precise than a party-name search.

Tip 04

Read the disposition

A filed charge is not the same as a conviction. Follow the docket to the final outcome.

Tip 05

Use courthouse computers for free statewide checking

Public terminals can provide a non-certified statewide search without a search fee.

Tip 06

Portal can hide restricted records

Sealed, confidential, juvenile and certain unreturned warrant records are not available to ordinary public users.

Tip 07

Police report? Leave Portal

Ask the police department, sheriff or other investigating agency for its records-request process.

Tip 08

County jail is not DAC

NC DAC covers state offenders, probationers and parolees—not local county jail detainees.

Tip 09

Missing old document? Call the Clerk

A historical paper record may exist even when Portal does not provide the document remotely.

Using North Carolina criminal records for employment, housing or screening

A public court search is not automatically the same as a legally compliant consumer background report. Employment, tenant, credit, insurance and other eligibility decisions may involve federal and state legal requirements.

Use-purpose matters. Criminal-Record.org explains public-record access and is not a consumer reporting agency. Do not assume that an eCourts Portal search or courthouse record may be used for every screening purpose.

North Carolina criminal court records: frequently asked questions

1. Can I search North Carolina criminal court cases online?

Yes. North Carolina eCourts Portal provides online access to publicly available criminal case information across all 100 counties. All counties use Enterprise Justice as of October 13, 2025.

2. Is North Carolina eCourts Portal an official criminal background check?

No. The North Carolina Judicial Branch states that Portal is not the official court record and directs individuals seeking background checks to the Clerk of Superior Court process.

3. How much is a certified North Carolina criminal background check?

The current fee is $25 for a certified name-based criminal record search through a county Clerk of Superior Court. The search covers that single county.

4. Can I perform a free statewide criminal-record search in North Carolina?

Yes. Public-access computers at Clerk of Court offices can be used for free non-certified criminal record searches, including statewide searching. Printing fees may apply.

5. How do I get my own North Carolina fingerprint-based criminal history?

Use the North Carolina SBI Right to Review process. The current state-only fingerprint-based personal review fee is $14.

6. Does eCourts Portal show every North Carolina court record?

No. Sealed, confidential and otherwise restricted records cannot be viewed by ordinary public users. Juvenile cases and unreturned criminal warrants are examples of restricted records.

7. Where can I find North Carolina prison, probation or parole information?

Use the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction Offender Public Information Search. It includes state offenders, probationers and parolees and contains historical information back to 1972.

8. Does North Carolina DAC show county jail inmates?

No. NC DAC specifically states that its offender database does not include county jail records. Check the sheriff or detention center for the relevant county.

9. How do I get an old North Carolina criminal court file that is not online?

Contact the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the case was filed. Paper and archived files may remain available even when the document is not accessible through Portal.

10. Where do I search federal criminal cases from North Carolina?

Federal criminal cases are separate from the North Carolina state court system. Use PACER to search federal district court records and the nationwide PACER Case Locator when you do not know the district.