Wake County will stop publishing mugshots and daily arrest reports online next month, ending nearly two decades of remote access while opening a debate over second chances and government transparency.

The county’s Bureau of Forensic Services will take its online arrest database offline Aug. 17, Axios reported. Director Sam Pennica said the change is intended to prevent photographs and arrest information from remaining public after the underlying case has been expunged.

North Carolina’s Second Chance Act created automatic expunctions for qualifying cases dismissed or resolved with findings of not guilty or not responsible. State law directs eligible cases to be cleared 180 to 210 days after final disposition, but Pennica said his bureau is not consistently notified when that process occurs.

The scale is substantial. The automatic-expunction statute accounted for 93% of nearly 2 million expunctions issued between mid-2021 and mid-2025, according to North Carolina’s Administrative Office of the Courts data cited by Axios. The North Carolina Judicial Branch warns that an expunction does not automatically erase information held by private websites.

Wake County’s database includes arrests dating to April 27, 2007. Axios reported it was created after repeated requests from The Slammer, a tabloid built around booking photographs.

Once the website closes, members of the public and journalists may review updated daily arrest information in person at the Public Safety Center in downtown Raleigh.

Raleigh attorney Mike Tadych, who works with the North Carolina Press Association, criticized limiting access to in-person searches. He noted that an arrest does not establish guilt but remains a historical event reporters may need to verify.

Wake County’s decision puts two interests in conflict: preventing outdated accusations from shadowing people cleared by the courts and preserving convenient public oversight of law enforcement.

More than one-third of North Carolina’s jails have exceeded capacity at least once this year, forcing some people in custody onto portable floor beds as county officials warn that space and staffing are being stretched beyond safe limits.

At least 36 of the state’s 98 operating jails were over capacity during one or more months in 2026, while 19 exceeded their limits every month covered by a North Carolina Health News analysis of the latest statewide confinement data. Another 17 reached at least 90% of capacity.

Mecklenburg County’s uptown Charlotte jail held 2,146 people, 242 above its 1,904-person capacity. Housing pods built for 53 people have held as many as 84, and WFAE reported that crowding has strained access to showers, phones and medical care. Sheriff Garry McFadden plans to reopen the 721-bed Jail North in August.

Smaller counties face sharper pressure. Scotland County’s jail regularly holds about 180 people despite a capacity of 109 and averaged roughly 160% occupancy this year. Robeson County’s jail averaged 123% and has exceeded capacity every month since at least January 2024.

Officials blame slow court cases, gaps in mental health and substance use treatment, stricter pretrial release rules under Iryna’s Law and a state prison transfer backlog. As of June 23, 1,432 sentenced people remained in county jails because the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction lacked room or staff to accept them.

Supporters of Iryna’s Law say tougher release standards improve public safety by keeping violent and repeat defendants in custody. Some sheriffs warned the law would worsen crowding, although no formal statewide analysis has isolated its effect. Counties are considering jail expansions, but advocates say new beds cannot solve staffing shortages or the behavioral health problems feeding the system.

Republicans are renewing their immigration attack on former Gov. Roy Cooper, using the case of a Nicaraguan national arrested in Winston-Salem to argue that Cooper’s vetoes made the state less safe.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) said Humberto Narvaez Sandoval was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after earlier arrests. Its July 22 release linked him to a Winston-Salem burglary case and court entries involving trespass, a concealed gun, firing a weapon inside city limits, impaired driving, resisting an officer, probation violations and reckless driving.

NRSC Press Secretary Nick Puglia said Cooper’s “soft-on-crime, sanctuary policies” allowed Sandoval to remain free. The committee pointed to Cooper’s 2019 veto of House Bill 370. Cooper called the measure unconstitutional and argued that it would force sheriffs to act as federal agents.

Cooper vetoed a similar measure in 2024, but Republican lawmakers overrode him and enacted House Bill 10. The law requires jail officials to check the immigration status of people charged with specified crimes and can keep someone subject to an immigration detainer and judicial order in custody for up to 48 hours.

The NRSC called North Carolina under Cooper a “sanctuary state,” but state law has prohibited cities from adopting policies that restrict federal immigration enforcement since 2015. The phrase is a political characterization, not an official state designation.

The attack lands in the Senate race between Cooper and Republican Michael Whatley for the seat being vacated by Sen. Thom Tillis. Immigration and public safety are becoming central Republican lines of attack in a contest that could help determine Senate control.