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 2, 2026.
Garland County, Arkansas, has about 100,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Garland 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 Garland 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: Garland County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Garland County
The Garland County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Garland County. It reported 971 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists two cities in Garland County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Hot Springs, 37,971 residents: 3,930 arrests reported for 2025.
- Hot Springs (village), 37,971 residents: 79 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 Garland County: the State Park at Lake Ouachita State Park (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Garland 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.
- 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.
- Garland County Sheriff's Office: 971 for 2025, 946 for 2024, 993 for 2023, 1,482 for 2022, 1,950 for 2021 and 1,758 for 2020.
- Hot Springs (village): 79 for 2025 and 107 for 2024.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,980 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 4,980 in 2025 against 5,289 in 2024, down 5.8 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,205 arrests, against 2,543 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Garland County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Garland County 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 Garland County
An arrest in Garland County 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 Garland 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 Garland County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Hot Springs or Hot Springs (village): 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 the State Park at Lake Ouachita State Park: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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.
Cities in Garland County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the four cities in Garland County: Hot Springs and Hot Springs (village). Mountain Pine, Fountain Lake and Lonsdale 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 Garland County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Garland County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Hot Springs (37,971)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Garland County each year?
Hot Springs reported 3,930 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 4,980 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Garland County?
Ask the Garland County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at garlandcounty.org/190/Detention-Center.
Where are people arrested in Garland County 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 Garland 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 Garland County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Garland 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at garlandcounty.org/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/125.
Is this the official Garland 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.