The Sheriff posts an "Active Inmate List" of people now held in the jail. Follow these steps:

1. Open the active inmate list on any device.
2. Find the box under the name column and enter the last name. The other columns have boxes too.
3. Click the name when it appears. That opens a details page for the person.
4. Copy any ID or booking number shown there. Staff find a record faster with it.

If nothing shows, do not panic. The next answer lists common reasons. You can also call 336-242-2140 and ask the jail to check.

This happens a lot early on. These are the usual reasons:

• Booking is slow. Paperwork can take hours before a name appears.
• Released. Family or a bondsman may have posted bond. An unsecured bond also lets a person walk out owing nothing today.
• Sent elsewhere. Possible places are a neighbor county, federal custody or a state prison.
• Spelling. Try nicknames, hyphens, middle names or a former name.
• A minor. Youths are housed away from adults. Read the juvenile answer below.

Call the jail at 336-242-2140. Ask whether the person is currently in custody. Keep the birth date close.

The Sheriff names a single adult jail for this county: Davidson County Jail. For the Sheriff, use 2511 East US Hwy 64, Lexington, NC 27292, 336-242-2100. No annex, district jail or work release site is named for adults.

Inside, the county lists these housing areas: a female unit, M Pod, N Pod, O Pod, L Pod, P Pod and the Old Jail. Ask which one holds your person. That matters for visiting hours.

A county-line arrest may put the person in a nearby jail. Check these:

• Davie County Detention Center, 135 Green Street, Mocksville, NC 27028, 336-753-6647
• Forsyth County Detention Center, 201 N. Church St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101, 336-917-7600
• Randolph County Detention Center, 811 New Century Drive, Asheboro, NC 27205, 336-318-6625
• Rowan County Detention Center, 115 West Liberty Street, Salisbury, NC 28144, 704-216-8770
• High Point Detention Center, 507 East Green Drive, High Point, NC 27261, 336-641-7900

Later answers cover federal, ICE and prison cases.

Open a person's details page on the Sheriff's list and see whether a photo is there. Mugshots appear only if the Sheriff chooses to post them. Nothing in state law clearly opens booking photos to everyone. G.S. 132-1.4 keeps investigation photographs out of public view.

Anyone may ask who was arrested and where that person lives, and how old they are. The charge is open too, as are when and where police made the arrest. Send photo requests to the arresting agency itself. For a deputy arrest, dial the Sheriff's non-emergency line, 336-249-0131.

• Federal booking photos stay private. The exception: the U.S. Marshals Service can release a photo, for example in a manhunt.
• ICE booking photos: ask ICE through its records request page.

Yes. VINE, called SAVAN in this state, sends free alerts when a person leaves county custody or a state prison, or changes facilities.

• Sign up online at VINELink.
• Or call 877-627-2826 at any hour.

Treat an alert as a backup. Also call the jail at 336-242-2140 and look at the list each day.

A magistrate usually sets release terms soon after booking, at any hour. Call the criminal magistrates at 336-242-6717. The law gives four choices:

• Unsecured: no payment is due up front, but the full bond is owed after a missed court date.
• Custody release: a person or group agrees to watch over the defendant.
• Secured bond: someone puts up cash, land or a bondsman's promise.
• House arrest with electronic monitoring, always paired with a secured bond.

The old written promise to appear ended on December 1, 2025, so it is not offered.

Some charges can only go before a judge. Examples are murder, rape, kidnapping and first-degree burglary. A domestic violence arrest can mean a wait of up to 48 hours, because a judge must set the terms first. Three days at most should pass before a District Court judge sees the person (72 hours). Ask the magistrates where to pay a bond. Ask the jail too, since it may take a bond when no magistrate is there.

The legal cap on a bondsman's premium is 15 percent of the bond, and the premium is not given back. Check any license on the bondsman lookup. Missing court brings a new bond of at least double the old one. For more detail, try the bail page here, or the North Carolina bail laws guide.

The clerk's office in Superior Court keeps the criminal case files. Find the clerk at the courthouse, 110 West Center Street, Lexington, NC 27292, 336-242-6701. Share the name and birth date. The clerk can tell you the charges and the next hearing.

You can also search online. The state's eCourts portal displays the charges, upcoming hearings and case events. Formal charges are chosen by the District Attorney, the county's prosecutor. Reach it at 336-242-6710.

A judge appoints a lawyer for a person who cannot pay. No local public defender office serves this county, so the judge picks a private lawyer. The person raises the request at first court and signs an affidavit of indigency, a form about income. The judge alone decides who qualifies, and repayment can be ordered afterward.

The state office of Indigent Defense Services has a page for this county. Its main line is 919-354-7200. The family can also retain a private lawyer.

Visits are in person, and the day depends on the housing area. The county lists these times:

• Saturday: female unit 7:30 to 9 a.m.; M and N Pods 9 a.m. to noon; Old Jail 1:30 to 3 p.m.
• Sunday: O and L Pods 7:30 to 9 a.m.; P Pod 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Times can change. Call 336-242-2140 to learn which area holds your person. Ask about the dress code, ID and who may come. Video visits: ask whether they exist. Our visiting guide adds more advice.

The Sheriff's page names JailATM. You can use the kiosk near the Magistrate Hallway Entrance, or you can deposit online on the JailATM site. Have the person's full name and ID number ready.

Call 336-242-2140 for fees, limits and when money posts. Our money guide explains the common methods. See what money buys in the commissary guide. Cash sent in the mail can be lost, so leave it out.

The Sheriff points families to Pay Tel Communications for call service. Call 800-729-8355 (1-800-PAY-TELL) to open an account. Then ask the jail at 336-242-2140 how calls are billed and whether texts or video are offered.

Calls could be recorded, so plan for that. Discuss the case only with your attorney. For details, see our jail phone guide, and for messaging, our email and text guide.

Call the jail at 336-242-2140 before you send anything. The Sheriff's page links an inmate mail policy, so read it first. The county directory gives this mailing address for the jail: PO Box 513, Lexington, NC 27293. Start the address with the person's full name.

Canteen orders go to a different address: Facility ID #5048, PO Box 18247, Greensboro, NC 27419. Add the person's name and ID number. For general rules see our mail guide. Leave cash out of every envelope.

Whatever was on the person at arrest is kept by the jail until release. The jail sets the rules for who may collect it. Call 336-242-2140 and ask for Booking. Ask about any release paperwork the person must sign, what ID you must bring, and what hours to come.

Bring a photo ID. Wait to go in person until you have the plan.

Call the jail at 336-242-2140 right away. Explain the condition. Include every medication with its dosage, and the doctor's phone number. Ask staff to send it to medical staff.

The person inside can send the jail a medical request. Call 911 for an emergency. Say so if the problem seems to be a mental health emergency.

Outside city limits, the Sheriff's deputies handle warrants. Within Lexington, Thomasville and Denton, city police do it. Call the Sheriff's Office at 336-242-2100 to ask whether one exists, or search the state's eCourts case search. The Clerk of Superior Court's criminal division, 336-242-6701, can check a name too. Bring the person's name and birth date. Get a lawyer first, before anything else happens with a warrant. The lawyer can call the court that issued it. Court clerk location: 110 West Center Street, Lexington, NC 27292.

Cases are tried at the courthouse, 110 West Center Street, Lexington, NC 27292. The clerk's number is 336-242-6701. A branch courthouse in Thomasville also hears District Court cases. It is at 22 Randolph Street, Thomasville, NC 27360, 336-474-3185. Misdemeanors and early felony steps start in District Court. Felony trials are in Superior Court after a grand jury indicts.

You can find dates by name using the state court dates search. Our court page breaks a case into steps.

A federal charge is tried in the Middle District of North Carolina. Its Greensboro courthouse is at 324 W. Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27401, and the clerk is at 336-332-6000.

1. Before trial there is a detention hearing, where release can be allowed or refused (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals Service handles federal prisoners awaiting trial. Its Middle District office is at 324 West Market Street, Suite 234, Greensboro, NC 27401, 336-332-8700.
3. A federal lawyer is appointed at no cost for people who qualify, through the Federal Public Defender at 301 North Elm Street, Suite 410, Greensboro, NC 27401, 336-333-5455.
4. After sentencing, the BOP inmate locator shows where the person is held.

Here is how it can go:

1. A detainer is ICE's written hold request. It uses Form I-247A, and 8 CFR 287.7(d) is the federal rule.
2. A detainer comes with an administrative warrant. A judicial official then orders, as Session Law 2025-85 (October 1, 2025) requires, the person held up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
3. With certain charges, the official has to try to find out citizenship. When that stays unknown, a federal check is run, taking two hours.
4. To use the ICE Online Detainee Locator, use the person's name along with their home country. An A-number also works.

Call 336-242-2140. Staff can say whether a detainer exists.

After a prison sentence, the NC Department of Adult Correction is in charge. Its Offender Public Information tool takes a name or an offender number. It has records from 1972 on, probation and parole included. It does not list county jails.

The department's main line is 919-733-2126. For visits and letters at prisons, open our North Carolina prison guide. Some sentences are served in a county jail that takes part in a state program: misdemeanors over 90 days and all impaired driving terms.

Juvenile cases are heard in District Court, in the courthouse at 110 West Center Street, Lexington, NC 27292, 336-242-6701. Those records are private. For a youth in secure custody, the hearing is due within 5 calendar days and cannot be skipped (G.S. 7B-1906).

The state sends young people to a center near their home when it can. Here is the state's list of juvenile centers. Call the clerk or the Sheriff's non-emergency line, 336-249-0131, to find out where a youth is. Ask about a lawyer at the first hearing.

The jail can name the arresting agency. Agencies in the county include:

• Sheriff's Office, 2511 East US Hwy 64, Lexington, NC 27292, main line 336-242-2100, non-emergency 336-249-0131. Covers areas outside the cities and towns.
• Lexington Police Department
• Thomasville Police Department
• Denton Police Department
• State Highway Patrol, Troop E, 5780 South Main Street, Salisbury, NC 28147, 704-639-7595. District I serves this area from Lexington, 336-481-0025.

For a city department's direct line, start with the Sheriff's non-emergency number above and ask which agency made the arrest.