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.
Howard County, Arkansas, has about 12,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Howard 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 Howard 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: Howard County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Howard County
The Howard County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Howard County. It reported 91 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:
- Nashville, 3,984 residents: 411 arrests reported for 2025.
- Mineral Springs, 1,045 residents: 61 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 Howard County: the State Park at Cossatot River State Park-Natural Area (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Howard 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.
- Nashville: 411 for 2025, 249 for 2024, 305 for 2023, 253 for 2022, 300 for 2021 and 255 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Howard County Sheriff's Office: 91 for 2025, 76 for 2023, 129 for 2022, 65 for 2021 and 128 for 2019; 2020 and 2024 are missing months.
- Mineral Springs: 61 for 2025, 8 for 2024, 23 for 2022, 10 for 2021, 22 for 2020 and 14 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 563 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 472 in 2025 against 257 in 2024, up 84 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Howard County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Howard 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 28 people, down from about 34 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 36 beds, and it ran at 94 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Howard County Sheriff's Office at howardcountysheriffar.com/roster.php (page title: Inmate Roster | Current Inmates Booking Date Descending | Howard County Sheriff AR), phone 870.845.2626, 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 Howard County
An arrest in Howard County can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Howard County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Howard County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at arcourtkiosk.org/howard-county/howardcounty, phone 870.845.7500); 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 Howard 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 Howard County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 870.845.2626.
- An arrest in Nashville or Mineral Springs: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park at Cossatot River State Park-Natural Area: 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 Howard County Circuit Court, through the court records page at arcourtkiosk.org/howard-county/howardcounty, phone 870.845.7500.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau.
Cities in Howard County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the four cities in Howard County: Nashville and Mineral Springs. Dierks and Tollette 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 Howard County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Howard County each year?
Nashville reported 411 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 563 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Howard County?
Look on the custody page of the Howard County Sheriff's Office at howardcountysheriffar.com/roster.php, or call 870.845.2626. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Howard County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Howard County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Howard 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 Howard County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Howard 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 Howard 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.