Find Arrest Records in Prairie County
Prairie County arrest records are kept by the sheriff in Des Arc and by the city police in the small towns of the county. The jail holds pretrial inmates and records the booking data: charges, mugshot, bond, and intake date. This page shows where to look for a Prairie County arrest record, which phone number to call, and how to file a FOIA request for the full report. State tools fill in the court side through CourtConnect and the prison side through the ADC inmate search. Most of the data is free to view.
Prairie County at a Glance
Prairie County Sheriff and Arrest Records
The Prairie County Sheriff's Office and Detention Center sit at 200 West Courthouse Square in Des Arc, AR 72040. The phone is (870) 256-4138. That one line handles both the patrol desk and the jail. The sheriff holds adults arrested by deputies, by Des Arc Police, by Hazen Police, and by the Arkansas State Police. Prairie County has two county seats. Des Arc is the northern seat. De Valls Bluff is the southern seat. The split goes back to 1846.
The jail keeps booking sheets, charge data, and bond info. There is no real-time public portal on the sheriff's side. Staff can read off the current roster and a short history on any inmate in custody. For a full arrest report, use a written FOIA request under Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-101 et seq. Agencies have three business days to respond. Fees cannot run higher than the actual copy cost.
A statewide list of county jails with contact info sits at arkansascountycourt.org/jail-roster. The page is a useful backup when the sheriff's line is busy. It lists addresses, phone numbers, and any online tools for each of the 75 county jails.
Once a Prairie County inmate moves to state custody, the ADC inmate tool above is the right stop. The sheriff can still confirm prior bookings on file in the local system.
Note: Prairie County is one of ten Arkansas counties with two county seats, so your arrest record may be filed in Des Arc or De Valls Bluff depending on the arrest site.
Prairie County Court Records
The Prairie County Circuit Clerk keeps court case files at 200 Court House Square in Des Arc. The phone is (870) 256-4431. The Des Arc District Court sits at 108 Main Street, phone (870) 256-4138. A second district court runs in De Valls Bluff at 120 Main Street, phone (870) 998-2411.
Circuit court hears felony cases. District court hears misdemeanors, first appearances, and city code cases. A felony arrest moves up to circuit court after the bind-over from district court. The Arkansas Judiciary Case Search covers circuit court and district court data once charges are filed. The link is caseinfo.arcourts.gov.
Prairie County sends partial data to CourtConnect. The arrest itself does not appear. What shows up is the charging document, the docket, the bond hearing, and the final disposition. Help email is acap.help@arcourts.gov. The Administrative Office of the Courts sits at 625 Marshall Street, Little Rock, AR 72201, phone 501-682-9400. Director Marty Sullivan runs the office. The office also runs eTraffic for paying traffic tickets online.
ADC and ARCH Lookups
The Arkansas Department of Corrections runs an inmate search for people sent to state prison. The ADC Inmate Search is free. You can filter by county, so Prairie County records are simple to pull. Search fields include ADC number, name, gender, age, race, facility, and offense category. Results show race, date of birth, date of incarceration, offense summary, and current facility. Questions go to adc.inmate.info@arkansas.gov.
For a statewide criminal history check tied to fingerprints, use arch.ark.org. The fee is $24 per search. Payment is card only. The result is one of three: subject identified with a history, subject identified with no history, or no subject identified. ARCH returns Arkansas felony and misdemeanor convictions, open felony arrests less than three years old, and sex offender status under all four levels. ARCH does not return juvenile records, dismissed charges, sealed records, or out-of-state history. The statute is Ark. Code Ann. § 12-12-1501 et seq.
Under Ark. Code Ann. § 12-12-1013, a person has the right to see and challenge their own criminal history record. Requests go to the ACIC Criminal History Division at 501-682-2222. Ark. Code Ann. § 12-12-1001 et seq. makes ACIC the state's central repository for criminal history data.
FOIA and Sealing Prairie County Arrest Records
Arkansas FOIA at Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-101 et seq. makes most arrest records open. Jail rosters, booking sheets, and warrant data are open to Arkansas citizens. Three business days is the reply window. Fees are capped at the actual cost to copy.
Closed records include open investigation files, juvenile cases under Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-309, sealed records under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1401 et seq., and undercover officer identities. The Attorney General's office at arkansasag.gov publishes the FOIA Handbook and opinions such as 2003-057 and 2003-183 that cover sealed record access. The AG is at 323 Center Street, Little Rock, 501-682-2007.
To seal a Prairie County arrest record, file a petition in the court that heard the case. Most misdemeanors can be sealed after a short wait. Some felonies can be sealed after the sentence is done and the wait period ends. Serious violent felonies, sex offenses that require registration, public sexual indecency, and indecent exposure are not eligible. Juvenile sealing is separate and follows Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-309.
Sex Offender Registry and VINE
The Arkansas Sex Offender Registry is run by ACIC and is a separate tool from general arrest history. Search by address, city, county, ZIP, or name. The public map shows level 3 and level 4 offenders near an address in Des Arc, Hazen, De Valls Bluff, or the rest of Prairie County. Levels 1 and 2 are not posted on the public map.
Ark. Code Ann. § 12-12-903 sets the four risk levels. Level 4 is the highest and covers sexually violent predators. Level 4 offenders re-register every three months. Levels 1, 2, and 3 re-register every six months. The tool pulls data from local police departments and from the sheriff.
VINE is the free victim alert tool at vinelink.com. Call 1-800-510-0415 to sign up by phone. Victims can register for custody alerts on inmates held in the Prairie County Jail, the ADC, or the Arkansas State Hospital. Circuit court event data is pushed by prosecutors. A four-digit PIN confirms the victim. Registrations are anonymous and are exempt from FOIA.
Note: Prairie County is rural and most arrest record questions get faster answers by phone than by email since the sheriff runs a small staff.
What a Prairie County Arrest Record Shows
A typical Prairie County arrest record has the same core fields used across most Arkansas jails. The booking sheet covers the event and the charges.
- Arrest date, time, and location
- Arresting agency and officer
- Mugshot and booking number
- Charges with statute citations
- Class: felony, misdemeanor, infraction
- Bond amount and court hearing date
Some data stays closed. Active warrants are often held back to keep a wanted subject from seeing the alert first. Sealed records do not return on ARCH or CourtConnect. Medical records and personnel files are exempt. Undercover officer identities are exempt.
Nearby Counties
Prairie County sits in the Grand Prairie region of east Arkansas. If a subject was arrested in a town just over the county line, the booking may sit in a neighboring jail. Use the links below to jump to those pages.