Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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). In Arkansas the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Circuit Clerk; the statewide criminal history kept by the Arkansas State Police is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Hempstead County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Hempstead County public records, Hempstead County arrest records, Hempstead County warrants, Hempstead County inmate search, Hempstead County court records, Arkansas arrest records and Arkansas inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Hempstead County Circuit Court
In Arkansas the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Hempstead County are heard by the Hempstead County Circuit Court, which hears felonies, civil cases, divorces, probate and juvenile matters; the District Court takes misdemeanors, traffic cases and small claims, and the file of each case is kept by the Circuit Clerk.
For Hempstead County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at hempsteadcountyar.com/circuit-clerk (page title: Circuit Clerk | Hempstead County Arkansas), phone (870) 777-2384, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Statewide, CourtConnect is the Arkansas Judiciary's free statewide case search.
The Arkansas Criminal History and Your Own Copy
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. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
To see your own record, the route is a request to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at dps.arkansas.gov/crime-info-support/arkansas-crime-information-cent....
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Hempstead County
The Hempstead County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Hope keep the arrest records in Hempstead County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Hempstead County: the State Park at Historic Washington State Park (state agency); it keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the two agencies in Hempstead County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 837 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Hempstead County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Hempstead County in 2025
The two agencies in Hempstead County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 132 violent and 338 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 470 crimes in 2025 against 474 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Hempstead County public records guide.
The Sex Offender Registry for Hempstead County
Registered sex offenders living in Hempstead County are listed on the Arkansas Sex Offender Registry, run by the Arkansas Crime Information Center at sexoffenderregistry.ar.gov/public. Level 3 and Level 4 offenders are listed online; Level 1 and 2 offenders are not.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Hempstead County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act a county office must answer a request within 3 working days when the record is not immediately available, and it may charge the actual cost of copying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Hempstead County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at hempsteadcountyar.com/circuit-clerk (page title: Circuit Clerk | Hempstead County Arkansas). Statewide, CourtConnect is the Arkansas Judiciary's free statewide case search.
How do I get my own Arkansas criminal history?
Through a request to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau.
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.