Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 on September 24, 2026.
Craighead County, Arkansas, has about 116,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Craighead County Sheriff's Office, eight city agencies and one campus agency. An arrest 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 Craighead County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Craighead County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Craighead County
The Craighead County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Craighead County. It reported 350 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists eight cities in Craighead County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Jonesboro, 82,384 residents: 4,931 arrests reported for 2025.
- Brookland, 4,607 residents: 137 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bono, 2,834 residents: 31 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lake City, 2,727 residents: 11 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bay, 1,817 residents: 17 arrests reported for 2025.
- Monette, 1,558 residents: 25 arrests reported for 2025.
- Caraway, 1,095 residents: 8 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cash, 283 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Craighead County: Arkansas State University at Jonesboro (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Craighead County
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.
- Jonesboro: 4,931 for 2025, 5,589 for 2024, 5,391 for 2023, 5,558 for 2022, 4,883 for 2021 and 4,376 for 2020.
- Craighead County Sheriff's Office: 350 for 2025, 505 for 2024, 518 for 2023, 377 for 2022, 349 for 2021 and 292 for 2020.
- Brookland: 137 for 2025, 155 for 2024, 141 for 2023, 134 for 2022, 135 for 2021 and 117 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Bono: 31 for 2025, 31 for 2024, 29 for 2023, 39 for 2022, 51 for 2021 and 14 for 2020.
- Monette: 25 for 2025, 28 for 2024, 24 for 2023, 23 for 2022, 27 for 2021 and 20 for 2020.
- Bay: 17 for 2025, 14 for 2024, 45 for 2023, 45 for 2022, 43 for 2020 and 30 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Lake City: 11 for 2025, 19 for 2024, 39 for 2023, 47 for 2022, 42 for 2021 and 50 for 2020.
- Caraway: 8 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 21 for 2023, 28 for 2022, 9 for 2020 and 54 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Cash: 3 for 2025.
Together, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,513 arrests that year. The eight of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,510 in 2025 against 6,349 in 2024, down 13 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Craighead County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Craighead County 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 2021 the jail held about 290 people, down from about 330 in 2019. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Craighead County
For Craighead County the place to look is the case index of the Craighead 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).
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 Craighead County
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 Craighead County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Jonesboro, Brookland, Bono, Lake City, Bay, Monette or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by Arkansas State University at Jonesboro: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Craighead 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.
Cities in Craighead County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for eight of the ten cities in Craighead County: Jonesboro, Brookland, Bono, Lake City, Bay, Monette, Caraway and Cash. Black Oak and Egypt have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Craighead County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Craighead County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Jonesboro (82,384)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Craighead County each year?
Jonesboro reported 4,931 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the nine agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,513 between them.
Where are people arrested in Craighead County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Craighead County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Craighead County?
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 Craighead County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Craighead County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 Craighead County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.