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.
Fulton County, Arkansas, has about 13,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and one state 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 Fulton 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: Fulton County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Fulton County
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Fulton County. It reported 225 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two 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:
- Salem, 1,626 residents: 79 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mammoth Spring, 948 residents: 17 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 Hardy Police Department, the Cherokee Village Police Department and the Ash Flat Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Fulton County, so their arrests are not broken out for Fulton County here.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Fulton County: the State Park at Mammoth Spring State Park (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Fulton 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.
- Fulton County Sheriff's Office: 225 for 2025, 189 for 2024, 191 for 2023, 209 for 2022, 316 for 2021 and 148 for 2020.
- Salem: 79 for 2025, 99 for 2024, 38 for 2023, 26 for 2022, 26 for 2021 and 28 for 2020.
- Mammoth Spring: 17 for 2025, 2 for 2024, 5 for 2023, 5 for 2021 and 14 for 2020; 2022 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 321 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 321 in 2025 against 290 in 2024, up 11 percent.
Through March 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 70 arrests, against 102 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Fulton County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Fulton 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 2023 the jail held about 26 people, up from about 9 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 30 beds, and it ran at 87 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
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 Fulton County
An arrest in Fulton County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Fulton 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 Fulton 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 Fulton County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Salem or Mammoth Spring: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park at Mammoth Spring State Park: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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 Fulton 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 Fulton County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the three cities in Fulton County: Salem and Mammoth Spring. Viola has 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 Fulton County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Fulton County each year?
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office reported 225 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 321 between them.
Where are people arrested in Fulton County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Fulton 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 Fulton County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Fulton 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 Fulton 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.