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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 24, 2026.
Phillips County, Arkansas, has about 15,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Phillips 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 Phillips 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: Phillips County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Phillips County
The Phillips County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Phillips County. It reported 27 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
One city in Phillips County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Helena-West Helena, 8,462 residents: 222 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 Phillips County: the State Park at Mississippi River State Park and the State Park at Delta Heritage Trail State Park (state agency).
How Many Arrests Helena-West Helena Reports
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.
- Helena-West Helena: 222 for 2025, 286 for 2024, 441 for 2023, 387 for 2022, 554 for 2021 and 554 for 2020.
- Phillips County Sheriff's Office: 27 for 2024.
Helena-West Helena's 222 arrests in 2025 were down 22 percent from 286 in 2024.
Through June 2026, Helena-West Helena reported 113 arrests, against 94 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Phillips County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Phillips 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.
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 Phillips County
An arrest in Phillips County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Phillips 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 Phillips 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 Phillips County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Helena-West Helena: 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 Mississippi River State Park or the State Park at Delta Heritage Trail State Park: 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 Phillips 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 Phillips County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the five cities in Phillips County: Helena-West Helena. Marvell, Elaine, Lake View and Lexa 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 Phillips County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Phillips County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Helena-West Helena (8,462)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Phillips County each year?
Helena-West Helena reported 222 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Phillips County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Phillips County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Phillips 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 Phillips County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Phillips 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 Phillips 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.