Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Fort Smith, Arkansas, in Sebastian County, has about 91,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Sebastian County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Fort Smith public records, Sebastian County arrest records, Arkansas arrest records and Arkansas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Fort Smith
The FBI lists Fort Smith with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Fort Smith Police Department. It reported 3,999 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 252 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Sebastian County: Fort Smith Public Schools (other).
How Many Arrests Fort Smith Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Fort Smith: 3,999 for 2025, 4,756 for 2024, 4,652 for 2023, 4,411 for 2022, 4,919 for 2021 and 4,925 for 2020.
Fort Smith's 3,999 arrests in 2025 were down 16 percent from 4,756 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Fort Smith reported 1,750 arrests, against 2,767 in the same months of 2025.
Across Sebastian County, the 11 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,560 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Fort Smith Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Fort Smith and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 420 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 386 beds, and it ran at 108 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office at sebastiancountyar.gov/Sheriff/Inmate-Inquiry (page title: Sebastian County Government > Sheriff > Inmate Inquiry), phone 479.783.4988, 901 South B St. Fort Smith, AR Greenwood Courthouse 11 Town Square Greenwood, AR 72936, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Arkansas Division of Correction lists its inmates at doc.arkansas.gov/correction/online-services.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Fort Smith
Whether someone was arrested in Fort Smith, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Sebastian County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at sebastiancountyar.gov/Departments/Circuit-Clerk/Circuit-Clerk-Inquiry); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sebastiancountyar.gov/Courts/Prosecuting-Attorney, phone 479-783-8976).
Statewide, CourtConnect is the Arkansas Judiciary's free statewide case search.
Arkansas is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the state runs an online name-based background check open to the public, through the Arkansas State Police. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Fort Smith
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 3 working days when the record is not immediately available, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
- An arrest by the Fort Smith police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at fortsmithar.gov/government/departments/police-department/how-do-i (page title: How Do I? | Fort Smith, AR), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 479.783.4988.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 479-783-8976, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Sebastian County Circuit Court, through the court records page at sebastiancountyar.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sebastiancountyar.nextrequest.com (page title: Public Records RequestsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau.
The Sebastian County guide covers every agency in the county: Sebastian County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Fort Smith each year?
Fort Smith reported 3,999 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Fort Smith?
Ask the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office at 479.783.4988; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sebastiancountyar.gov/Sheriff/Inmate-Inquiry.
Where are people arrested in Fort Smith booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Fort Smith?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Arkansas State Police: the state runs an online name-based background check open to the public. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Fort Smith?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Fort Smith police for its own arrests, the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 3 working days when the record is not immediately available; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at sebastiancountyar.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Fort Smith website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.