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.
Pope County, Arkansas, has about 65,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Pope County Sheriff's Office, four city agencies and three 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 Pope 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: Pope County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Pope County
The Pope County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Pope County. It reported 229 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Pope County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Russellville, 29,442 residents: 585 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pottsville, 3,301 residents: 39 arrests reported for 2025.
- Atkins, 2,878 residents: 73 arrests reported for 2025.
- Dover, 1,368 residents: 9 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 Pope County: the State Park at Lake Dardanelle State Park (state agency); Arkansas Tech University (campus police); the Pottsville School District (other).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Pope 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.
- Russellville: 585 for 2025, 432 for 2024, 826 for 2022, 1,195 for 2021, 1,250 for 2020 and 1,100 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Pope County Sheriff's Office: 229 for 2025, 204 for 2024, 205 for 2023, 220 for 2022, 213 for 2021 and 255 for 2020.
- Atkins: 73 for 2025, 54 for 2024, 48 for 2023, 66 for 2022, 76 for 2021 and 67 for 2020.
- Pottsville: 39 for 2025, 55 for 2024, 77 for 2023, 133 for 2022, 60 for 2021 and 90 for 2020.
- Dover: 9 for 2025, 20 for 2024, 14 for 2023, 16 for 2022, 20 for 2021 and 58 for 2020.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 935 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 935 in 2025 against 765 in 2024, up 22 percent.
Through March 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 74 arrests, against 86 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Pope County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Pope 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 2023 the jail held about 190 people, up from about 190 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 172 beds, and it ran at 109 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Pope County Sheriff's Office at popecoso.org/inmates (page title: Inmates | Pope County Sheriff’s Office AR), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Pope County
For Pope County the place to look is 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 Pope 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 Pope County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Russellville, Pottsville, Atkins or Dover: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the State Park at Lake Dardanelle State Park, Arkansas Tech University or the Pottsville School District: the records office of the agency involved.
- Your own statewide record: a request to the Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau.
Cities in Pope County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the six cities in Pope County: Russellville, Pottsville, Atkins and Dover. London and Hector 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 Pope County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Pope County each year?
Russellville reported 585 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 935 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Pope County?
Ask the Pope County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at popecoso.org/inmates.
Where are people arrested in Pope County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Pope County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Pope 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 Pope County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Pope 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 Pope 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.