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.
Polk County, Arkansas, has about 19,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Polk County Sheriff's Office, one city agency 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 Polk 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: Polk County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Polk County
The Polk County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Polk County. It reported 181 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Polk County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Mena, 5,594 residents: 257 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 Polk County: the State Park at Queen Wilhelmina State Park (state agency).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Polk 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.
- Mena: 257 for 2025, 236 for 2024, 251 for 2023, 228 for 2022, 365 for 2021 and 303 for 2020.
- Polk County Sheriff's Office: 181 for 2025, 199 for 2024, 278 for 2023, 165 for 2022, 202 for 2021 and 190 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 438 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 438 in 2025 against 435 in 2024, up 0.7 percent.
Through June 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 199 arrests, against 234 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Polk County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Polk 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 2019 the jail held about 25 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 26 beds, and it ran at 96 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Arkansas Division of Correction, whose inmate locator is at doc.arkansas.gov/correction/online-services.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Polk County
An arrest in Polk County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Polk 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 Polk 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 Polk County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Mena: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park at Queen Wilhelmina 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 Polk 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.
The other Polk County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Polk County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the six cities in Polk County: Mena. Wickes, Grannis, Hatfield, Cove and Vandervoort 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 Polk County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Polk County each year?
Mena reported 257 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 438 between them.
Where are people arrested in Polk County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Polk County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Polk 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 Polk County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Polk 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 Polk 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.