Arkansas keeps one criminal history system, built from fingerprint arrest cards sent in by law enforcement, and the Arkansas State Police sell a name query of it to anyone who holds the signed written consent of the person being checked. There is no public search of the state repository without that consent.
The check comes two ways: online through the State Police Online Criminal Background Check System, which needs a Tyler Arkansas account, or on paper with form ASP-122 mailed or carried to the Identification Bureau in Little Rock. The State Police say both ways return the same information.
- Online: $22 per Arkansas name based check, $11 for volunteers, plus the annual Tyler Arkansas account fee, which is waived for state agencies and schools.
- By mail or in person: $25 per request by check or money order with a completed ASP-122 and a stamped, addressed envelope; results in two to five business days once received.
- FBI checks: fingerprint based national checks only for entities with specific access authorization under state or federal law, $16 each or $14 for volunteers on the system's price list, $13 or $11 in its FAQ.
- Disputes: a person who says an arrest on the result is not theirs is fingerprinted by an officer and the prints are compared to the arrest, at no cost to anyone.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Arkansas's own systems: the Arkansas State Police Online Criminal Background Check System, its background check forms page, its frequently asked questions, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Who may run an Arkansas State Police check
The Online Criminal Background Check System is provided by the Arkansas State Police under the Arkansas law that permits access to certain criminal history information for authorized entities, and the State Police limit the service to persons and entities holding the signed written consent of the subject of the record. The same consent rule covers the paper route: anyone with the subject's release signature on form ASP-122 may use the manual process. In practice that means an employer, a landlord, a school or a volunteer organization checks a person who has signed for it, and a person may check themselves; a stranger's record is not sold by name.
The State Police put the misuse rule on the front page. A non criminal justice organization or individual that receives criminal history information may not use it for any purpose other than the one stated in the request, or to deny the subject any civil right, and using it for an unstated purpose is a Class A misdemeanor.
What the response contains, and what it does not
The State Police describe the contents the same way for the online and the mailed check. A response releases the person's Arkansas felony and misdemeanor conviction record, any pending Arkansas felony arrests within the last five years, meaning an arrest that has not yet gone to trial, and whether the person is a registered sex offender at levels one through four or is required to register.
It does not give the requester what law enforcement sees. Misdemeanors still pending in court, arrests that ended in a dismissal, a nolle prosequi or a not guilty verdict, and traffic matters such as speeding or a seat belt ticket are left out. Sealed records are released only in certain instances, which the State Police tie to Attorney General Opinions 2003-057 and 2003-183.
The State Police also explain why their check differs from a private company's product. Private checks are linked by name only, so a common name can pick up another person's convictions or miss the subject's own. The State Police pull the record from the ACIC database, which, together with the State Police AFIS, connects every arrest by fingerprints rather than by name: a person arrested under a false name with fingerprints taken is linked to their earlier history regardless of the name given. The state check itself is a name query of that fingerprint linked system, built from arrest fingerprint cards rather than court records alone.
The online check: Tyler Arkansas accounts and prices
The online system requires an account with Tyler Arkansas. Its price list reads $22 per Arkansas state name based check request and $11 for volunteers, with $16 per national FBI fingerprint based check and $14 for volunteers; the system's FAQ quotes the FBI check at $13 and $11 for volunteers, so both figures are stated here as the State Police publish them. Tyler Arkansas also charges an annual fee for the service, waived for state agencies and educational institutions, and an entity already receiving Tyler Arkansas services may be able to add this one without a new registration expense.
The State Police warn that search information must be reviewed before it is submitted, because no refunds are given for incorrect data entry or a wrong selection. After submission a request shows one of three statuses: pending while results are awaited, complete when they are in, and rejected when results arrived with a problem in the reporting process. When an application reads not approved, the State Police say privacy rules keep them from explaining why; whatever is available appears under the history tab. An uploaded document must be a single file of 20 MB or less.
The paper check: form ASP-122 by mail or in person
Anyone with the subject's signed consent may use the manual process: a completed ASP-122 Individual Record Check form carrying the subject's release signature, a $25 check or money order payable to the Arkansas State Police, and a stamped, addressed envelope. Credit cards are not accepted for mailed requests and cash is never to be sent. No fingerprint card is needed when only the Arkansas check is requested, and the result goes to the person or entity to whom it was released.
Requests go to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau, 1 State Police Plaza Drive, Little Rock, AR 72209, or in person to State Police headquarters at I-30 and Geyer Springs Road, exit 133, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except state holidays. The State Police say a request may not be left at a local troop headquarters or with the Criminal Investigation Division. Processing takes two to five business days once the Identification Bureau receives it, not counting mail time. Questions go to the Identification Bureau at 501-618-8500.
The other ASP-122 forms: volunteers, paid staff and adoptions
The forms page separates the request by purpose. A paid employee who needs a check under the Adam Walsh Act (Public Law 109-248) or the Serve America Act (Public Law 111-13) uses the non volunteer ASP-122 and its attached instructions. A person who is not a paid employee and needs a check under those laws or as a volunteer under Arkansas Code 12-12-1607 uses the volunteer form. For a private adoption, the record checks run under Arkansas Code 9-9-212 and the State Police forward everything they find to the court where the adoption petition will be filed; the results are not returned to the applicant. An FBI check for that purpose needs a current transaction number from the State Police for a live scan submission.
The State Police add one instruction for anyone whose check is mandated by law: contact the licensing agency or entity that requires it for the proper request form, rather than filing a general ASP-122.
Challenging an arrest that is not yours
Whether the check was ordered online or on paper, a subject who says that an arrest or conviction on the result is not theirs may challenge the record at no cost to the requester or the subject. The subject is fingerprinted by a law enforcement officer and those prints are compared against the fingerprints or photograph from the challenged arrest. If the arrest is found not to be the subject's, the incorrect entry is removed from the criminal history and an updated result is issued to the entity that requested the check, without charge. If the arrest is found to belong to the subject, it stays.
Reading an Arkansas result the way the State Police intend
Three limits in the State Police description decide how to read a result. First, it is an Arkansas record: the system is built from arrest fingerprint cards submitted by Arkansas law enforcement, so an arrest in another state is outside it unless an FBI fingerprint check was authorized and run. Second, it is a conviction record with a narrow window on arrests: only pending felony arrests from the last five years appear, and non conviction outcomes are withheld from non criminal justice requesters. Third, the name query is matched against a fingerprint linked file, which the State Police present as the reason a state check beats a name only product.
What the check cannot be used for is as important as what it shows. The consent and purpose rules mean a result obtained for one stated reason may not be reused for another, and the Class A misdemeanor for misuse applies to the person or organization that received it.
Questions about background checks in Arkansas
Related Arkansas records
The State Police check answers what Arkansas has recorded against a name with the person's consent; the Arkansas court records guide covers the case files behind those convictions, the arrest records guide explains what a booking makes public, the inmate search guide finds who is in state custody now, and the Arkansas county pages list the sheriff and circuit clerk sites for each county.