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.
Ouachita County, Arkansas, has about 22,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Ouachita County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and two campus, state or other 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 Ouachita 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: Ouachita County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Ouachita County
The Ouachita County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Ouachita County. It reported 83 arrests for 2025.
One city in Ouachita County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Camden, 10,116 residents: 364 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 Ouachita County: the State Park at Poison Springs Battleground State Park (state agency); Southern Arkansas University Tech (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Ouachita 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.
- Camden: 364 for 2025, 750 for 2024, 671 for 2023, 577 for 2022, 743 for 2021 and 775 for 2020.
- Ouachita County Sheriff's Office: 83 for 2025, 39 for 2024, 13 for 2023, 2 for 2022, 6 for 2021 and 7 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 447 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 83 in 2025 against 39 in 2024.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ouachita County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Ouachita 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 140 people, down from about 200 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 198 beds, and it ran at 102 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 Ouachita County Sheriff's Office at washitaso.gov/inmate-search (page title: Inmate Search | Washita County Sheriff's Office), phone 877-654-8463, 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 Ouachita County
Whether someone was arrested in Ouachita County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Ouachita County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Ouachita 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 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 Ouachita 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 Ouachita County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 877-654-8463.
- An arrest in Camden: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park at Poison Springs Battleground State Park or Southern Arkansas University Tech: 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 Ouachita County Circuit Court, through the court records page at caseinfo.arcourts.gov/opad.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau.
Cities in Ouachita County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the six cities in Ouachita County: Camden. East Camden, Stephens, Bearden, Chidester and Louann 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 Ouachita County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ouachita County each year?
Camden reported 364 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 447 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ouachita County?
Look on the custody page of the Ouachita County Sheriff's Office at washitaso.gov/inmate-search, or call 877-654-8463. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Ouachita County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Ouachita County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ouachita 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 Ouachita County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ouachita 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 Ouachita 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.