Arkansas Court Records

Arkansas Court Records Lookup

Justice for residents of the Arkansas area was once served from the government seat of French Louisiana in New Orleans. After the Louisiana Purchase, the territory became a state. Arkansas court records search is available for anyone. Individuals can search and view or request copies of Arkansas court records online as long as the subject of the document is not protected by privacy laws, such as juveniles or victims of crimes.

Limited Jurisdiction Courts

People with fines or paying Arkansas traffic tickets, for city ordinance violations, or seeking a restraining order in Arkansas seek assistance at their local district or state district courts, of which there are 72 across the state following a reorganization in 2017. The city district court jurisdiction is limited to misdemeanor cases and civil suits valued under $5,000. These AR courts hear other criminal matters and civil suits valued up to $25,000 and may refer more serious cases to higher courts. Mentioned Arkansas courthouses are subordinate to circuit courts, which are the state’s trial courts.

Circuit Court Records in AR

Trials are held in Arkansas’ circuit courts, which hear civil and Arkansas criminal records in 28 locations by 121 elected judges. These Arkansas courtrooms often use specialized divisions to decide juvenile and domestic relations (Arkansas child support, divorce, custody) issues. Probate divisions address property transfers and decide some inheritances as well as adoptions and guardianships. 

In a recent year, circuit courts heard more than 181,000 cases across the state, including over 80,000 criminal, 40,000 domestic relations, and nearly 25,000 civil issues. These Arkansas AR court records can be accessed by conducting Arkansas court case lookup.

State Appellate courts

At the top of state's judiciary is an intermediate appeals court and the Arkansas supreme court. The intermediate appeals court receives disputed cases from circuit courts, heard by a panel of 12 judges. In a recent year, these Arkansas courtrooms handled about 150 appeals of felony cases and 230 civil appeals.

The state supreme court is the court of last resort, taking selected appeals of cases from lower courts and overseeing the state bar, including discipline of attorneys.

Federal Court Records

Each state contains at least one federal court that takes care of bankruptcies as well as multi-state lawsuits and federal crimes. Arkansas has two, with geographic jurisdiction, an Eastern District and a Western District. Records of federal district courts are public documents and can be viewed online by conducting Arkansas court record lookup.

Arkansas Notable Court Cases

The Supreme Court recently decided that a man convicted in a capital murder case was entitled not to a new trial but to a hearing in a lower court to determine if his attorney presented the best defense possible. Because the defense attorney did not raise the possibility that the defendant had mental health or alcohol abuse problems when he committed the 2007 murder, the case was appealed to the state supreme court. In a 6-1 decision, Supreme Court justices agreed to send part of the case back just for that small ruling: whether the defense attorney had good reason to exclude information about his client's mental health.

In June 2016, Arkansas death row inmates lost the most recent court case that would delay their executions. The state Supreme Court decided that Arkansas is not in violation of a law requiring it to disclose financial expenditures that pertain to purchases of a lethal cocktail of drugs used to execute prisoners. The case was one of several that had extended delays in executions since 2005, when the state last put a prisoner to death.