Search Arkansas State Records & Public Information (Free)

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Free Arkansas Records Page Search

Access Arkansas Records: warrants, divorce and marriage, arrests, driver's license, and all public records.

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Arkansas has guaranteed access to public records to all state citizens since 1967 and has public records available online; many of which are free.¹ However, it can be challenging to figure out where to look, and depending on the state, the information may be limited.

To simplify access to Arkansas state public records, we created a comprehensive guide that helps readers find information on themselves or others. Now anyone can find public information through the resources below, and if the information can’t be found through government agencies, our search feature may be utilized to check every county and several types of records at once.

Arkansas Free Public Records Directory

Arkansas has made records of government or public bodies available to every Arkansas citizen under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (Arkansas FOIA), but one must know which governing body and jurisdiction the information falls under.

There are four main types of Arkansas public records:

• Criminal records
• Court records
• Vital records (marriage, divorce, birth, and death certificates)
• Inmate records²

Each has separate free and paid public record repositories, so the resource used depends on the type of record someone wants to find.

Arkansas Criminal Records Check

Arkansas maintains records or criminal rap sheets for every criminal, and all state citizens can access these records online. They usually contain:

• The criminal’s name and photograph
• Felony conviction record
• Misdemeanor conviction record
• Pending felony arrests where the person has not yet gone to trial within the last three years
• Sex offender status and level, or if the person is required to register as one

However, the general public won’t have access to all information available to the police, including:

• Juvenile records
• Misdemeanors that haven’t resulted in a conviction
• Cases declared not guilty, dismissed, or not processed after arrest
• Traffic records
• Warrants out for a person
• Sealed records (not available to the public)
• Federal criminal history or criminal history from other states

Additionally, the public can not access sealed records (records that aren’t available to the public) either.

These public criminal records can be helpful during background checks for employees, locating records of a partner or spouse, tenant background checks, pure curiosity etc.

Are Criminal Records Public in Arkansas?

Under Arkansas FOIA, the state maintains an online public records repository of criminals, and anyone can look up someone’s criminal record, whether it’s an employer, partner, landlord, or anyone else. The only information that isn’t available to the public is listed above and includes sealed records.

How To Find Arkansas Criminal Records

Anybody can request someone’s criminal record through online and offline means – both will cost roughly the same.

Online

Anyone can find Arkansas criminal records online, but whether they go through an aggregate service or search various government websites, it comes at a cost.

If the interested party doesn’t have someone’s signed consent, they can visit the Arkansas Department of Public Safety and perform a background check. The person must enter the first and last name of the subject, along with their sex and date of birth.

This website pulls results based on the Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC) and the state’s driver’s records and costs $24 for a single query. However, results are entirely name-based, so there’s no guarantee that they’re accurate.

If a person has someone’s signed consent, the Arkansas State Police Department maintains an online directory of criminal records. However, one must first sign up with the Information Network of Arkansas (INA) and declare that they’ll obtain the person’s signed consent whose record they want to check.

The requester has to fill out the subject’s details for a name-based background check and pay $22, even if the query doesn’t get any results. This fee includes a $2 processing fee by the INA and a $2 credit card processing fee. Volunteers are only required to pay $11.

A fingerprint-based background check will cost $14.25 in general and $12.25 for volunteers if authorized to perform it.

Offline

To request a criminal background check by mail, the requester must fill up form ASP-122 and acquire a release signed by the person whose record they need and a money order or check for $25. They should mail these documents to:

Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau (SPIB)
1 State Police Plaza Dr.
Little Rock, AR 72209

How To Find Public Arrest Records in Arkansas

There are two ways to find public arrest records in Arkansas for free, but both require citizens to know which county the subject was arrested in.

1. Searching the inmate roster on the county’s website, the Sheriff’s office, or the Chief of Police.
2. Contacting the jail through the information available on the county’s website.

While a state-wide search will show felony arrest records, people can only find out about misdemeanor arrests by looking up someone’s name amongst the detainee records of a county (people held by the police), such as Washington County. This process will show police records of a person’s:

• First and last name
• Age
• Race
• Sex
• Booking date

Free Warrant Checker in Arkansas

Anyone can find out if someone has a warrant in Arkansas, including themselves, by searching for active warrants. Simply enter a person’s first and last name in the AR Warrant Search section of a county website. It’ll show the person’s age, date of warrant, and warrant number, but no other details.

How To Search Arkansas Sex Offender Registry Map

A criminal record public record search will tell whether someone is a sex offender and what level they’re at (1-4, increasing in severity of crimes).³ However, if a person’s concerned about safety, they can search for someone’s name in the sex offender registry or look for sex offenders in their area.

The Arkansas Department of Public Safety’s Sex Offender Search allows people to find sex offenders within the state. To look up a particular person, enter their first and last name. If found, the results will display their biographical details, photograph, address, and charge.

To locate sex offenders in a particular area, enter the area details (street name, city, zip code, county) and hit “Search Area”. The site will present a map of the locations of sex offenders in the specified area and their levels, with level 4 being the most dangerous. Click on the pins on this map to view an offender’s details.

Arkansas State Court Records

Arkansas maintains case records for the Arkansas Supreme Court, Appellate Court (Court of Appeals), District Courts, and Circuit Courts (where judges travel to various locales). Case information from civil, criminal, domestic relations, and probate cases are available to every Arkansas citizen online, including:

• Case ID and description
• Names of the parties involved
• Attorneys for each party
• The judge/judges
• Case filings/documents
• Charges and dispositions
• Dates for future events
• Judgments

Courts in a few counties report information via paper cover sheets to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). For these, only basic information is available via court record searches, such as case ID and description, some parties, the judge, and charges/dispositions.

The only exceptions are sealed or expunged court records that a court has removed from public view. The general public can’t access sealed court records online – one needs permission by law to do so and will have to contact the concerned court. Since Arkansas automatically seals most juvenile records, most people also won’t be able to access these cases.⁴

How To Look Up Court Records Online in Arkansas

Court case lookup in Arkansas is simple – AOC Public CourtConnect provides online access to these records through the Contexte Case Management System. All searches are completely free of cost.

To search for public court records, enter a person’s or business’ name or case ID. People can also search for judgments using the same information. While a search only needs a person’s last name or the company’s name, it can also include:

• First name
• Middle name
• Driver’s license number
• Date of birth
• Case filing date (beginning and end)
• Case type
• Party type
• County
• Location code

People can also choose the “Display case information and activities” option if they already know a Case ID or Docket number (a summary of case proceedings). If they’re unsure, they can even lookup all cases or dockets filed on a specific date by providing:

• Beginning and end dates
• County
• Case type
• Court code and location code (optional)

For bankruptcy records, people can look up the case records of the US Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern & Western Districts of Alaska on PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records). However, there is a fee of $0.10 per page and $2.40 per audio file.

Are Arkansas Vital Records Public Information?

According to Arkansas Statute 20-18-305, all birth records older than 100 years and marriage, divorce, and death records older than 50 years can be accessed by the state’s public.⁵ Newer records, like marriage records, are public but are only available to certain people with authorization.

Despite this, the image below depicts the total divorced population of each county in Arkansas based on census data:

Arkansas has maintained state-wide birth and death, marriage, and divorce records since 1914, 1917, and 1923 respectively.⁶ For a record over 100 years old, people can search online databases such as FamilySearch or Ancestry (which may cost money) or write to the Arkansas Division of Vital Records at:

Arkansas Department of Health (ADH)
Vital Records, Slot #44
4815 West Markham Street
Little Rock, AR 72205

How To Find Free Arkansas Marriage Records, Vital Records & Health Statistics

The Arkansas Department of Health maintains health statistics and responds to requests for vital records and provides shipping to anywhere in the US. If one’s looking for how to get a replacement birth certificate, death certificate, etc., this is the way.

However, the requester must be named on the record or have an eligible relationship with the person whose record they’re trying to access. So, not everyone can access public divorce records, find out if someone is married, etc., if they don’t have an eligible relationship with them.

To order a vital record, a person must provide their:

• Name
• Address
• Date of birth
• Driver’s license number or two alternate forms of ID
• Proof of relationship documents
• Change of name/address (if needed)

When someone orders online through Vital Records, there are multiple options for expedited shipping, and they can pay the fees using any debit/credit card. The requester will typically get a certified copy of the record within 7-14 business days + shipping time. Remember that Arkansas doesn’t recognize common law marriage, so one can’t order a record for it.

Costs include:

• Birth certificate: $12 (first copy), $10 (additional copies)
• Death certificate: $10 (first copy), $8 (additional copies)
• Marriage record: $10
• Divorce record: $10
• Processing fee: $5
• Identity verification fee: $1.85
• Shipping fees: Depends on the option chosen

If a person wishes to order offline, they can write to the Arkansas Department of Health at the address mentioned above and include copies of IDs and a money order or check equivalent to the cost of the record needed. This process will take 10-14 days, besides mail delivery time.

Otherwise, visit the given address or call (866)209-9482 to order vital records.

Inmate Records

The Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) maintains public inmate records for all incarcerated individuals. They can be helpful if one wants to find out where an inmate currently lives, send money to an inmate, contact someone in prison, etc. Generally, these records contain the inmates:

• Name
• ADC number
• Photograph
• Race
• Sex
• Physical attributes (hair and eye color, height, weight)
• Date of birth
• Receipt date
• The facility where they currently reside
• Facility and mailing address
• Release date
• Maximum sentence length
• Description
• Current and prior offenses

How To Look Up Arkansas Inmate Records

As mentioned before, people can find detainees in county jails by visiting the county’s website and searching the detainee roster.

For prisons, the ADC’s Inmate Search tool allows people to find out if someone was arrested or is in jail by looking up the prison records of any current inmates. They can also download the entire Inmate Database instead of using the search function. One search can yield multiple results.

To perform an Arkansas Department of Corrections inmate search, one can provide:

• Last name (necessary, unless you know the inmate’s ADC number)
• First name
• ADC number
• Gender
• Age
• Race
• County
• Facility
• Offense category

There’s no separate inmate prison locator since the search provides a complete prison background check, including where the person is currently incarcerated.

How Do You Find Out an Arkansas Inmates Release Dates?

When available, the prison or jail records provided by an online inmate search tool will include inmate release dates. This feature also displays an inmate’s transfer or parole eligibility date, also known as the earliest date they’re eligible for parole or let out of prison before serving the complete sentence.⁷

A viewer can also see the prisoner’s maximum sentence under the “Time” section and it will show something like ten years or another duration. Add this time to their initial receipt date to find out their latest release date.

To search for a Department of Corrections parolee record, people can refer to the ADC’s Parole Hearing Decision Search Tool.

How To Visit & Send Money to Inmates

When searching for an inmate via the offender lookup tool above, there’ll be a “Send Money” button. Anyone can either transfer money to the inmate’s trust account or their prepaid phone service account by clicking this button.

If a person wants to send mail instead, they can do so by writing the inmate’s address in this format:

Inmate’s address – 

Inmate’s Name and ADC Number
Name of Unit
PO Box Number or Street Address
City, State, and Zip Code

Return address –

Full Name of Individual or Business
Street Address or PO Box Number
City, State, and Zip Code

To visit an inmate, a potential visitor needs to get jail paperwork so they can get on the inmate’s visitation list, which they can acquire from the person they want to visit.⁸ Within seven days, they’ll get to know whether the prison has approved their request. If approved, they can also do 30-minute video visits at $12.99.

The processes are listed above so anyone can check official resources with ease and without complication but don’t worry if the free Arkansas state records or public record requests sound like a hassle. If the above guide doesn’t provide the information seekers are looking for, they can use our search tool to access all types of records in Arkansas, including criminal, vital, court, and inmate records.