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 between September 24, 2026 and October 4, 2026.
Franklin County, Arkansas, has about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office and three city agencies. 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 Franklin 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: Franklin County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Franklin County
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Franklin County. It reported 259 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
Arrests inside three of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Ozark, 3,601 residents: 174 arrests reported for 2025.
- Charleston, 2,731 residents: 25 arrests reported for 2025.
- Altus, 674 residents: 40 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Franklin 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.
- Ozark: 174 for 2025, 227 for 2024, 357 for 2023, 232 for 2022, 229 for 2021 and 312 for 2020.
- Altus: 40 for 2025, 55 for 2024, 80 for 2023, 3 for 2020 and 47 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Charleston: 25 for 2025, 82 for 2024, 52 for 2023, 97 for 2022, 131 for 2021 and 71 for 2020.
- Franklin County Sheriff's Office: 259 for 2024, 325 for 2023, 322 for 2022, 485 for 2021 and 314 for 2020.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 239 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 239 in 2025 against 364 in 2024, down 34 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 124 arrests, against 139 in the same months of 2025.
Franklin County Sheriff's Office reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Franklin County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Franklin 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 73 people, up from about 40 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 40 beds, and it ran at 100 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office at franklincountyar.gov/home/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Franklin County Government), phone 479-667-4127, 248 Airport Rd, Ozark, AR 72949, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 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 Franklin County
Whether someone was arrested in Franklin County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Franklin 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 Franklin 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 Franklin County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 479-667-4127.
- An arrest in Ozark, Charleston or Altus: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- 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 Franklin 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 Franklin County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the six cities in Franklin County: Ozark, Charleston and Altus. Branch, Denning and Wiederkehr Village 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 Franklin County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Franklin County each year?
Ozark reported 174 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 239 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Franklin County?
Ask the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at 479-667-4127; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at franklincountyar.gov/home/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Franklin County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Franklin 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 Franklin County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Franklin 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 Franklin 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.