Arkansas Court Records

What is Included in Arkansas Public Court Records

Criminal Court Cases

Assault & Battery, Domestic Violence, Parole Violation, Probation Violation, Sexual Assault, Robbery, Manslaughter, Murder, Drug Offenses, And More...

Civil Court Cases

Bankruptcies, Legal Judgments, Lawsuits, Tax & Property Liens, Contract Disputes, Probates, Family Law, Small Claims, Evictions, And More...

Traffic Court Cases

Driving Under Influence, Driving While Intoxicated, Speeding Tickets, Traffic Citations, Reckless Driving, Driving Without a License, License Suspensions, Criminal Driving Violations, Accidents, And More...

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.

Arkansas Civil Case Statistics

Civil Caseload
Civil Caseload 97,934
Caseloads per 100.000 Population
Caseloads per 100.000 Population 3,277
Clearance Rate
Clearance Rate 60%

Civil Caseloads for Arkansas, the sum of all civil cases reported by the state, account for 395,851 total cases at the year end of 2016, which makes it 3,277 cases per 100.000 population.

The clearance rate for the state is about 60% which makes up by dividing the outgoing to incoming civil cases and expressing the result in a percentage.

State Small Claims & Rates Timeline

Year: Small Claims Max. Limit Small Claims Caseload per 100.000 Population Percent of Total Civil Caseload
2012$50009,8893359%
2013$50009,40031810%

Domestic Relations Caseloads & Clearance Rates

The state’s domestic relations caseload has counted 52,577 cases which is 1,759 court cases per 100.000 population. It has decreased since 2012, the difference in caseloads is 7,001 for the last 5 years, being 59,578 in 2012.

State Court Holidays

Holiday: Date:
New Year's DayMonday, January 1, 2018
Martin Luther King, Jr./Robert E. Lee's BirthdayMonday, Jan 15, 2018
Presidents' Day/Daisy Gatson Bates DayMonday, February 19, 2018
Memorial DayMonday, May 28, 2018
Independence DayWednesday, July 4, 2018
Labor DayMonday, September 3, 2018
Veterans' Day (observed)Monday, November 12, 2018
Thanksgiving DayThursday, November 22, 2018
Christmas EveMonday, December 24, 2018
Christmas DayTuesday, December 25, 2018

Supreme Court Caseloads & Clearance Rates

Court of Appeals Caseloads