| Up until the mid 1980’s, courthouses used handwritten index cards to manage public records, today those have been replaced by electronic databases. Each record provides information about a given case such as the original charge, the final charge, the trial date and the disposition, or outcome of the case. These records are maintained on a mainframe computer located in Raleigh. Most counties transferred to the electronic system some 7 to 10 years ago, some longer ago. So your criminal record search will provide you a range of at least seven years and in some cases more.The table below provides the date that each North Carolina county began using the electronic record system for criminal records. |
