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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, in Phillips County, has about 8,500 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 Phillips 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: Helena-West Helena public records, Phillips County arrest records, Arkansas arrest records and Arkansas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Helena-West Helena
The FBI lists Helena-West Helena with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Helena-West Helena Police Department. It reported 222 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 Phillips County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 27 arrests for 2024.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Phillips County: the State Park at Mississippi River State Park and the State Park at Delta Heritage Trail State Park (state agency).
How Many Arrests Helena-West Helena Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Helena-West Helena: 222 for 2025, 286 for 2024, 441 for 2023, 387 for 2022, 554 for 2021 and 554 for 2020.
Helena-West Helena's 222 arrests in 2025 were down 22 percent from 286 in 2024.
Through June 2026, Helena-West Helena reported 113 arrests, against 94 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Helena-West Helena Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Helena-West Helena 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.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Arkansas Division of Correction, whose inmate locator is at doc.arkansas.gov/correction/online-services.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Helena-West Helena
An arrest in Helena-West Helena can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Phillips County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at caseinfo.arcourts.gov/opad); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at arcourts.gov/circuit/?q=prosecuting-attorney, phone 870-261-1747).
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 Helena-West Helena
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 Helena-West Helena police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at hwh.ar.gov/helena-ar-police-department (page title: Police Department | City of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas), phone 870-572-3441, Monday-Thursday 7:00AM-5:00PM, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Phillips County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 870-261-1747, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Phillips County Circuit Court, through the court records page at caseinfo.arcourts.gov/opad.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau.
The Phillips County guide covers every agency in the county: Phillips County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Helena-West Helena each year?
Helena-West Helena reported 222 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Helena-West Helena booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Phillips County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Helena-West Helena?
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 Helena-West Helena?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Helena-West Helena police for its own arrests, the Phillips 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.
Is this the official Helena-West Helena 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.