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.
Hempstead County, Arkansas, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hempstead County Sheriff's Office, one city agency 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 Hempstead 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: Hempstead County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hempstead County
The Hempstead County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hempstead County. It reported 284 arrests for 2025.
One city in Hempstead County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Hope, 8,465 residents: 553 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 Hempstead County: the State Park at Historic Washington State Park (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Hempstead County
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.
- Hope: 553 for 2025, 760 for 2024, 642 for 2023, 679 for 2022, 618 for 2021 and 574 for 2020.
- Hempstead County Sheriff's Office: 284 for 2025, 426 for 2024, 602 for 2023, 617 for 2022, 581 for 2021 and 512 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 837 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 837 in 2025 against 1,186 in 2024, down 29 percent.
Through June 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 354 arrests, against 481 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hempstead County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Hempstead 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 67 people, down from about 70 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 54 beds, and it ran at 130 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 Hempstead County Sheriff's Office at hempsteadcountysheriff.org/detention-center (page title: Detention Center | Hempstead County Sheriff's Office), phone 870-777-6727, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Hempstead County
For Hempstead County the place to look is the case index of the Hempstead County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at hempsteadcountyar.com/circuit-clerk, phone (870) 777-2384).
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 Hempstead County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Hempstead County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 870-777-6727.
- An arrest in Hope: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park at Historic Washington State Park: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Hempstead County Circuit Court, through the court records page at hempsteadcountyar.com/circuit-clerk, phone (870) 777-2384.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau.
Cities in Hempstead County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the ten cities in Hempstead County: Hope. Blevins, Perrytown, Fulton, Washington, Oakhaven, McCaskill, Patmos, Ozan and McNab 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 Hempstead County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hempstead County each year?
Hope reported 553 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 837 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hempstead County?
Ask the Hempstead County Sheriff's Office at 870-777-6727; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hempsteadcountysheriff.org/detention-center.
Where are people arrested in Hempstead County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hempstead County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hempstead 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 Hempstead County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hempstead 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 Hempstead 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.