North Carolina People Search

North Carolina has 100 counties but strong statewide systems: since October 2025 every county is on eCourts. These six offices usually show where a person lives and what to search next.

• NC Secretary of State business registration searchCorporations, LLCs, nonprofits and partnerships with agents
• NC State Board of Elections voter searchRegistration status, county, precinct and party
• NC DAC Offender Public InformationPrison, parole and probation records back to 1972
• NC eCourts PortalCriminal, civil and family cases in all 100 counties
• NC SBI Sex Offender RegistryRegistered offenders living, working or in school in North Carolina
• NC Vital RecordsCertified birth, death, marriage and divorce records

North Carolina's public records law is codified at N.C. General Statutes Chapter 132, which declares that "the public records and public information compiled by the agencies of North Carolina government or its subdivisions are the property of the people." The statute begins with a strong presumption of openness and places the burden on agencies to justify withholding any record. Unlike many states, NC does not impose a blanket statutory response deadline, but it does require agencies to provide records "as promptly as possible."

Exemptions are narrower than in many states, but they do exist. Law enforcement investigative records remain confidential while active. Personnel files of public employees are largely confidential with specific carve-outs (position, salary, dates of employment are always public). Juvenile court records, sealed or expunged cases, certain social services records, and ongoing personal medical information are also shielded. Motor vehicle records are restricted under the federal DPPA. Records sealed under the state's Second Chance Act expungement provisions vanish from official searches entirely.

The Secretary of State keeps business filings, and the Department of Adult Correction and the State Bureau of Investigation keep the prison and sex offender records linked in Where to Look.

• NC.gov state portalDirectory of state agencies and services
• North Carolina General AssemblyStatutes, including Chapter 132 on public records

The North Carolina General Court of Justice is unified statewide but operates in two trial court divisions: District Court (misdemeanors, traffic, civil under $25,000, juvenile, domestic) and Superior Court (felonies, civil over $25,000, appeals from District). Above those are the NC Court of Appeals and the NC Supreme Court.

From February 2023, starting with Wake, Harnett, Lee and Johnston counties, the clerks of court moved from the old ACIS system to eCourts, and since October 13, 2025 all 100 counties are on it. Anyone can search cases and view dockets on the eCourts Portal, linked in Where to Look, and some filed documents can be seen online.

• North Carolina Judicial BranchCourts, clerks of court, forms and court locations by county

Common Mistake

Assuming a clean eCourts search means no record. Cases expunged under the Second Chance Act are removed, and federal cases are only on PACER.

North Carolina property records are split between two county offices: the register of deeds (deeds, mortgages, plats and vital records) and the county tax office (assessment and collection). Most counties put both online, and recorded documents go back generations. Tax data usually shows the owner, mailing address, assessed value, parcel history and sale prices.

• County offices with vital records, NC Vital RecordsPoints to each county register of deeds and clerk of court

The NC Secretary of State oversees corporate registrations and the statewide NCSOSID (NC Secretary of State Identifier) system, used to cross-reference entities, officers, and registered agents. NC also maintains more than 50 occupational licensing boards, from medicine and law to cosmetology and well contracting.

• Professional licenses and permits, nc.govLinks to the state licensing boards and their lookups

The NC Department of Adult Correction (DAC), split from the Department of Public Safety in 2023, runs the state prisons; its offender search is linked in Where to Look. County jails are run by the sheriffs, and each publishes its own roster. Federal prisoners are in the Bureau of Prisons locator.

• Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locatorFederal prisoners held since 1982

NC Vital Records maintains birth records from 1913 forward and death records from 1930 forward at the state level; earlier vital records were kept only at the county level. Marriage licenses are issued and recorded by each county's Register of Deeds. Divorce judgments are filed in District Court and appear in court records.

The State Board of Elections voter search, linked in Where to Look, is free and shows registration status, precinct and party. The full voter file can be downloaded from the State Board of Elections.

• State Archives of North CarolinaState and county records, military records and land grants

Digitized North Carolina newspapers are also in Chronicling America at the Library of Congress.

The most populous counties:

• Mecklenburg CountyCharlotte, the most populous county
• Mecklenburg County Register of DeedsDeeds, marriage licenses and vital records for Charlotte
• Wake CountyRaleigh and Cary, the state capital county
• Guilford CountyGreensboro and High Point in the Triad

Other large counties are Forsyth (Winston-Salem), Cumberland (Fayetteville), Durham, Buncombe (Asheville), New Hanover (Wilmington), Union (Monroe) and Gaston (Gastonia).

All counties are on eCourts: since October 13, 2025 the court records of every county can be searched on the eCourts Portal.

Run Register of Deeds marriage lookups first: NC marriages are indexed by the issuing county ROD, not by the state. If you don't know the county, try the spouse's likely county of residence first.

Use the DAC search for historical depth: The DAC database going back to 1972 is unusually deep, perfect for older conviction research.

Full voter file: the State Board of Elections publishes the full statewide voter file for download, beyond the one-record lookup.

Watch for Second Chance expungements: NC's expanding expungement statutes (2020 Second Chance Act) mean some older convictions will no longer appear in eCourts or DAC databases.

Cross-reference SOS registered agents: A subject's business's registered agent address is frequently their home address. Always check.

Researcher Tip

For NC marriages, the Register of Deeds in each county has always been the source of record, the state only aggregates data back to 1962. For pre-1962 marriages, go directly to the county ROD where the license was issued.

Chapter 132 is the main open records law. It is broad, but recent laws protect law enforcement home addresses, juvenile court records and expunged records. North Carolina has no general consumer privacy law like the CCPA or VCDPA; bills have been filed, most recently in 2026, but none has passed.

Privacy Note

NC expungements under the Second Chance Act remove records from public view entirely, a researcher who finds "no record" may be seeing a cleared record, not an absence of one.