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 between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
White County, Arkansas, has about 79,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the White County Sheriff's Office, ten city agencies and one campus 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 White 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: White County public records, Arkansas arrest records, Arkansas inmate search and Arkansas criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in White County
The White County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for White County. It reported 254 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists ten cities in White County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Searcy, 23,997 residents: 499 arrests reported for 2025.
- Beebe, 9,092 residents: 241 arrests reported for 2024.
- Bald Knob, 2,533 residents: 88 arrests reported for 2024.
- Judsonia, 1,900 residents: 46 arrests reported for 2025.
- Kensett, 1,407 residents: 22 arrests reported for 2025.
- Higginson, 905 residents: 0 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bradford, 681 residents: 9 arrests reported for 2025.
- McRae, 618 residents: 2 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pangburn, 498 residents: 9 arrests reported for 2024.
- Rose Bud, 498 residents: 2 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 White County: Arkansas State University at Beebe (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in White 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.
- Searcy: 499 for 2025, 478 for 2024, 444 for 2023, 463 for 2022, 414 for 2021 and 491 for 2020.
- White County Sheriff's Office: 254 for 2025, 315 for 2024, 344 for 2023, 451 for 2022, 537 for 2021 and 463 for 2020.
- Judsonia: 46 for 2025, 45 for 2024, 34 for 2023, 21 for 2022, 53 for 2021 and 74 for 2020.
- Kensett: 22 for 2025, 23 for 2024, 29 for 2023, 18 for 2022, 35 for 2020 and 97 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Bradford: 9 for 2025, 14 for 2024, 17 for 2023, 5 for 2022, 17 for 2021 and 15 for 2020.
- Rose Bud: 2 for 2025, 1 for 2024, 15 for 2023, 21 for 2022, 13 for 2021 and 2 for 2020.
- McRae: 2 for 2025, 3 for 2024, 9 for 2023, 10 for 2022, 0 for 2021 and 19 for 2020.
- Higginson: 0 for 2025, 0 for 2024, 3 for 2023, 1 for 2022, 0 for 2021 and 0 for 2020.
- Beebe: 241 for 2024, 357 for 2023, 287 for 2022, 317 for 2021, 276 for 2020 and 375 for 2019.
- Bald Knob: 88 for 2024, 67 for 2023, 77 for 2022, 128 for 2021, 115 for 2020 and 188 for 2019.
- Pangburn: 9 for 2024.
Together, the eight agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 834 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 834 in 2025 against 879 in 2024, down 5.1 percent.
Bald Knob, Beebe and Pangburn reported only part of 2025 (10 months, 11 months and 4 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in White County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in White 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 2023 the jail held about 340 people, up from about 240 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2021, the last year with a capacity figure, was 398 beds, and it ran at 54 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 White County Sheriff's Office at wcsheriff-in.us (page title: White County Sheriff's Department), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 White County
Whether someone was arrested in White County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the White 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 whitecounty.ar.gov/prosecuting-attorney, phone 501-279-6236).
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 White 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 White County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Searcy, Beebe, Bald Knob, Judsonia, Kensett, Higginson or another of the cities listed above: 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 Arkansas State University at Beebe: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 501-279-6236, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the White 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 White County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for ten of the 16 cities in White County: Searcy, Beebe, Bald Knob, Judsonia, Kensett, Higginson, Bradford, McRae, Pangburn and Rose Bud. Letona, Garner, Russell, West Point, Griffithville and Georgetown 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 White County Circuit Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in White County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Searcy (23,997)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in White County each year?
Searcy reported 499 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the eight agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 834 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in White County?
Ask the White County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at wcsheriff-in.us.
Where are people arrested in White County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the White County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in White 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 White County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the White 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 White 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.