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.
Van Buren, Arkansas, in Crawford County, has about 24,000 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 Crawford 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: Van Buren public records, Crawford County arrest records, Arkansas arrest records and Arkansas inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Van Buren
The FBI lists Van Buren with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Van Buren Police Department. It reported 549 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 Crawford County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 467 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Crawford County: the State Park at Lake Fort Smith State Park (state agency).
How Many Arrests Van Buren 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.
- Van Buren: 549 for 2025, 614 for 2024, 675 for 2023, 782 for 2022, 842 for 2021 and 929 for 2020.
Van Buren's 549 arrests in 2025 were down 11 percent from 614 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Van Buren reported 411 arrests, against 308 in the same months of 2025.
Across Crawford County, the six agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,418 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Van Buren Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Van Buren 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 2021 the jail held about 190 people, up from about 190 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Crawford County Sheriff's Office at crawfordcountysheriff.org/inmates (page title: Inmates | Crawford County Sheriff), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Van Buren
An arrest in Van Buren can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: CourtConnect, the Arkansas Judiciary's free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed; the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at crawfordcountyar.gov/officials/prosecuting_attorney.cshtml, phone 479-474-5000).
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 Van Buren
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 Van Buren police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at vanburenpd.org (page title: Van Buren Police Department), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Crawford County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 479-474-5000, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau.
The Crawford County guide covers every agency in the county: Crawford County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Van Buren each year?
Van Buren reported 549 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Van Buren?
Ask the Crawford County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at crawfordcountysheriff.org/inmates.
Where are people arrested in Van Buren booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Crawford County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Van Buren?
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 Van Buren?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Van Buren police for its own arrests, the Crawford 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 Van Buren 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.