Either a phone or a computer works:

1. Visit the Sheriff's jail list.
2. Type the name. Start with all of it, then remove a part if no one shows up.
3. Read the match with care. Should an ID or booking number appear, copy it, since it speeds up any phone call.
4. Next, check the Sheriff's recent arrests list, which fits an arrest made within the last day or two.

If you are still stuck, staff at 336-641-2700 can search for you.

Gaps in the list are normal early on. The likely reasons:

• Paperwork is unfinished. Fresh arrests need time to be entered.
• They are already free. A magistrate may have picked a no-cash bond, or sent them home with a trusted adult, or someone may have paid the bond.
• They were moved. Guilford's two jails can send people back and forth.
• A different office has them. A neighboring county, a state agency or a federal agent may have made the arrest.
• The name was typed another way. Search with nicknames, middle names or earlier last names.
• They are under 18. A youth does not go into the adult list.

Phone Greensboro at 336-641-2700 or High Point at 336-641-7900.

Two adult jails belong to the Sheriff:

• Greensboro Detention Center, 201 S. Edgeworth St., Greensboro, NC 27401, 336-641-2700. The larger of the two, built for 1,032 people. Most of them are waiting on a trial date. A few are serving sentences, and a few are federal or transfer inmates.
• High Point Detention Center, 507 E. Green Drive, High Point, NC 27260, 336-641-7900. This one has 274 beds. Ask staff which people it houses.

Moves between the two are possible. Young people are held somewhere else, which the under-18 answer explains.

If officers made the arrest in a different county, that county's Sheriff keeps the person first. Look for its jail on JE's North Carolina jail list. After a prison term, the state takes the person.

Open the Sheriff's list and watch for a picture by the name. Mugshots (booking photos) show up only if the Sheriff chooses to put them online. When none appears, call the Sheriff's Office at 336-641-3694 and ask how to ask for one.

North Carolina statutes do not plainly make booking photos public. Even so, a handful of arrest details are public, such as the name, age and street address, the accusation, and where and when officers made the stop.

• For a photo ICE took, file a records request at the ICE records page.
• Federal arrest photos do not go to the public, apart from the rare one the U.S. Marshals Service releases in a manhunt.

Yes. SAVAN/VINE costs nothing and sends word as soon as a person walks free from county or state custody, or ships to a new facility. Register on VINELink or dial 877-627-2826 at all hours. It can show where someone is held too.

A notice may arrive late, so keep opening the Sheriff's jail list, and phone the jail when minutes count.

A magistrate, working at any hour, usually sets the release terms right after booking. The Greensboro Magistrate's Office is at 201 S. Edgeworth St., Greensboro, NC 27401, 336-412-7870. The High Point Magistrate's Office is at 505 E. Green Drive, High Point, NC 27260, 336-822-6719.

• Choices: a bond with no cash due now. A release to a supervisor. A secured bond, paid with money, land or a bondsman's help. House arrest with an electronic monitor, but only alongside a secured bond.
• Judge-only cases: murder, rape and kidnapping, among others. After a domestic violence arrest, the jail may keep the person for 48 hours so a judge can act.
• Judge in 72 hours: a person not yet released must see a District Court judge, who may change the terms.
• Skipping court: expect the next bond to be at least twice the last, or at minimum $1,000 when none existed.

Call the jail to learn how bonds are paid. Bondsmen must hold a state license. A bondsman's fee is capped by law at 15 percent of the bond. It is gone for good once paid. Check a license at the bondsman lookup. Get more detail from our bail page, and see the rules for the whole state on this laws page.

Begin with the state's eCourts case search. Once the court has a file, the site lists the charges and the hearing dates.

The Clerk of Superior Court holds each criminal file and answers at 336-412-7300. Offer the complete name and birth date. The Greensboro courthouse is at 201 S. Eugene St., Greensboro, NC 27401. Prosecutors work from the District Attorney's office, reachable at 336-412-7600 in Greensboro and 336-822-6710 in High Point.

Raise it at the first appearance before the judge. The person asks for an appointed attorney and completes the court's affidavit of indigency. The judge decides who gets help, and may bill the person later.

Defender District 24, 201 S. Eugene St., Greensboro, NC 27401, 336-412-7777, is the public defender office for this area. A private attorney is another option for those who can pay.

Visits are held Tuesday through Friday, with no Monday visits. Register in advance at IWebVisit.com.

• Greensboro: 8:30 to 10:00 a.m., 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.
• High Point: 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. and 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.

An in-person visit through the monitor costs nothing. For dress and ID questions, phone Greensboro at 336-641-2700 or High Point at 336-641-7900. Our visiting guide has more advice.

Choose a lobby kiosk (operated by IC Team3) or the website team3.inmatecanteen.com. Cash deposits stop at $300 per rolling seven days. Have the person's name and ID number in hand.

Our money guide lists the steps. Our commissary guide lists what the money can purchase. Skip cash in envelopes.

Pay Tel Communications provides the phones and tablet messaging. Visit paytel.com or call 800-729-8355 to start an account, and ask what calls and messages cost.

Calls may be recorded, so skip the particulars of the charge when you talk. For tips, open JE's phone call page and its page on email and texting.

Everyday letters are sent to a post office box, not the jail's street door. On line two, write the full name and the ID number:

• Greensboro: Guilford County Detention - Greensboro, Inmate Name and ID, Facility ID 5083, PO Box 18247, Greensboro, NC 27419
• High Point: Guilford County Jail - High Point, Inmate Name and ID, Facility ID 5084, PO Box 18247, Greensboro, NC 27419

Legal mail uses the jail's street address. Call 336-641-2700 to learn what items are allowed. The mail guide adds common rules.

Belongings logged at booking remain in the jail's storage. Phone 336-641-2700 (Greensboro) or 336-641-7900 (High Point) about pickup. Ask who may come, which ID to show and what hours pickup runs. Items remain at the jail that held the person, so confirm which one.

Call 336-641-2700 and ask for the health care unit. Share medicine names, doses and the doctor's phone. Their housing unit also has a sick-call form your loved one can fill in.

Dial 911 for a true emergency. Name a mental health crisis directly when you call.

The Sheriff's Office, 336-641-3694, and town police serve warrants. The Sheriff's criminal warrants page directs people to the Greensboro Magistrate's Office, 201 S. Edgeworth St., Greensboro, NC 27401, or the High Point Magistrate's Office, 505 E. Green Drive, High Point, NC 27260, in person. Cases also appear in the eCourts case search, or phone the criminal clerk at 336-412-7300. A lawyer should look at a warrant before the person acts on it. The issuing court is the office that can clear it. The clerk's office sits at 201 S. Eugene St., Greensboro, NC 27401.

Two courthouses hold hearings:

• Greensboro: 201 S. Eugene St., Greensboro, NC 27401, 336-412-7300.
• High Point: 505 E. Green Drive, High Point, NC 27260, 336-822-6700.

Most misdemeanors and traffic tickets go to District Court, as does the first look at a felony. Superior Court takes over a felony trial after the grand jury indicts. The state's court dates search lists hearings, and the clerk can confirm them. Our court guide explains every stage.

A federal charge is filed in the Middle District of North Carolina, with a courthouse in the L. Richardson Preyer Courthouse, 324 W. Market St., Greensboro, NC 27401. Its clerk answers at 336-332-6000.

1. A judge at the first federal hearing picks between custody and release before trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Until trial, the U.S. Marshals Service has custody and sometimes uses a county jail. Call its Greensboro office at 324 W. Market St., Suite 234, Greensboro, NC 27401, 336-332-8700.
3. The Federal Public Defender, 301 North Elm St., Suite 410, Greensboro, NC 27401, 336-333-5455, is there for those with no money.
4. After sentencing, try the Federal Bureau of Prisons locator.

1. The jail receives from ICE a detainer, which is Form I-247A, and a separate administrative warrant.
2. Federal rule 8 CFR 287.7(d) lets the jail keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. Since October 1, 2025, North Carolina law has a judge or magistrate order that hold if the person faces a criminal charge.
3. At release, the official has to try to confirm citizenship on certain charges. If unsure, a two-hour federal check follows.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator, with a full name and country of origin, or with an A-number.

No result in the locator? Call the jail at 336-641-2700 and ask whether ICE asked for a hold.

Once a sentence to prison is handed down, the state's Department of Adult Correction takes custody, assesses the person and assigns a prison. The Offender Public Information search lets you look up a name or a state ID. Files begin in 1972. They deal with prison, probation and parole, not county jail stays. Call the department at 919-733-2126.

Certain short terms are served in a county jail instead. Visit and mail routines differ by prison. Our North Carolina prison guide lists them.

Adult jails do not take minors. A youth in secure custody is placed at the Guilford County Juvenile Detention Center, 15 Lockheed Court, Greensboro, NC 27409, 336-641-2600.

A court hearing has to occur within five calendar days, and the youth cannot give it up. These cases belong to District Court and are kept confidential. Juvenile Court can give the next date at 336-412-7555. Greensboro's courthouse is at 201 S. Eugene St., Greensboro, NC 27401.

Jail staff know which agency booked the person, so call 336-641-2700. Agencies working here:

• Guilford County Sheriff's Office, 401 W. Sycamore St., Greensboro, NC 27401, 336-641-3694. Deputies patrol outside town limits. The non-emergency number is 336-373-2222.
• Town and city police: Greensboro, High Point, Jamestown, Gibsonville, Oak Ridge and Summerfield. For a department's phone, start with the Sheriff's non-emergency line.
• Campus police: UNC Greensboro.
• State Highway Patrol, Troop D, 2527 East Market St., Greensboro, NC 27401, 336-334-5621. Its District D-II office in Greensboro serves the county at 336-256-2058.