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 October 2, 2026.
Hot Springs, Arkansas, in Garland County, has about 38,000 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 Garland 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: Hot Springs public records, Garland County arrest records, Arkansas arrest records and Arkansas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Hot Springs
The FBI lists Hot Springs with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Hot Springs Police Department. It reported 3,930 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 Garland County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 971 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Garland County: the State Park at Lake Ouachita State Park (state agency).
How Many Arrests Hot Springs 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.
- Hot Springs: 3,930 for 2025, 4,236 for 2024, 4,354 for 2023, 3,788 for 2022, 4,228 for 2021 and 4,462 for 2020.
Hot Springs's 3,930 arrests in 2025 were down 7.2 percent from 4,236 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Hot Springs reported 1,967 arrests, against 2,403 in the same months of 2025.
Across Garland County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,980 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hot Springs Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hot Springs is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 350 people, down from about 370 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 495 beds, and it ran at 71 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 Garland County Sheriff's Office at garlandcounty.org/190/Detention-Center (page title: Detention Center | Garland County, AR), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 2, 2026.
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 Hot Springs
An arrest in Hot Springs can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Garland 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 garlandcounty.org/258/Prosecuting-Attorney, phone 501-622-3724).
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 Hot Springs
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 Hot Springs police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at hotspringsar.gov/1290/Records (page title: Records | Hot Springs, AR), phone (501) 321-6789, 3167 Police Records Division 641 Malvern Avenue Hot Springs, AR 71901, Monday thru Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Garland County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 501-622-3724, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Garland County Circuit Court, through the court records page at caseinfo.arcourts.gov/opad.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at garlandcounty.org/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/125 (page title: Public Record Requests, Garland County, AR).
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau.
The Garland County guide covers every agency in the county: Garland County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hot Springs each year?
Hot Springs reported 3,930 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hot Springs?
Ask the Garland County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at garlandcounty.org/190/Detention-Center.
Where are people arrested in Hot Springs booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Garland County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hot Springs?
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 Hot Springs?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hot Springs police for its own arrests, the Garland 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 garlandcounty.org/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/125.
Is this the official Hot Springs 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.