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.
Hot Spring County, Arkansas, has about 33,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and two state 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 Hot Spring 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: Hot Spring County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hot Spring County
The Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hot Spring County. It reported 65 arrests for 2025.
One city in Hot Spring County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Malvern, 11,082 residents: 318 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 these agencies in Hot Spring County: the State Park at DeGray Lake Resort State Park and the State Park at Lake Catherine State Park (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Hot Spring 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.
- Malvern: 318 for 2025, 322 for 2024, 356 for 2023, 446 for 2022, 526 for 2021 and 429 for 2020.
- Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office: 65 for 2025, 7 for 2022 and 15 for 2021; 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 383 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 318 in 2025 against 322 in 2024, down 1.2 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hot Spring County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hot Spring 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 2017 the jail held about 51 people. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office at hotspringcountysoar.gov/inmate-roster/filters/current/booking_time=... (page title: Inmate Roster | Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
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 Hot Spring County
An arrest in Hot Spring County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; CourtConnect, the Arkansas Judiciary's free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
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 Hot Spring 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 Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Malvern: 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 DeGray Lake Resort State Park or the State Park at Lake Catherine State Park: the records office of the agency involved.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau.
The other Hot Spring County guides go further: warrants, inmate search, police reports and property records.
Cities in Hot Spring County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the six cities in Hot Spring County: Malvern. Rockport, Midway, Donaldson, Perla and Friendship 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 Hot Spring County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Hot Spring County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Malvern (11,082)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hot Spring County each year?
Malvern reported 318 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 383 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hot Spring County?
Look on the custody page of the Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office at hotspringcountysoar.gov. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Hot Spring County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hot Spring 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 Hot Spring County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hot Spring 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 Hot Spring 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.