Randolph County Criminal Court Records
Randolph County criminal court records are filed and kept by the Circuit Clerk's Office in Pocahontas, which serves as the official custodian of all circuit-level criminal case filings in the county. Whether you need to look up a felony charge, track a pending case, or get a certified copy of a court document, this guide covers how to search Randolph County criminal court records online through CourtConnect, by mail, or at the Pocahontas courthouse.
Randolph County Criminal Court Records
Find Randolph County Criminal Court Records
The Circuit Clerk for Randolph County is Ramona H. Smith. Her office sits at 107 W Broadway, Pocahontas, AR 72455. Mail can go to P.O. Box 349, Pocahontas, AR 72455. Phone is (870) 892-5522, and the fax is (870) 892-5831. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The clerk's office records and maintains all circuit court criminal filings under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-20-102, which sets out the clerk's duty to record all proceedings, issue warrants, and maintain case files for both pending and past matters.
Felony cases, misdemeanor appeals from lower courts, and domestic-related criminal filings all land in the Circuit Clerk's files. Each case file can hold the charging document, any arrest warrant issued, bond records, plea agreements, sentencing orders, and the full docket sheet that tracks every step of the case. Staff can help you locate a case if you have the defendant's name or case number. You can also use the public access terminal at the courthouse to search on your own before asking for staff help.
Email inquiries go to randolphclerk@arkansasclerks.com. Keep in mind that staff can give general guidance by email but they cannot send confidential case documents that way. For full copies, an in-person visit or a formal mail request is the right path.
CourtConnect is the state's free online search tool for Arkansas criminal court records. Randolph County participates on a partial basis, so index-level case data is available without creating an account.
Search Criminal Records Online
Arkansas runs a free public case search portal called CourtConnect. You reach it at caseinfo.arcourts.gov. No login is needed. Search by party name, case number, or citation number. You can also filter by court, case type, and date range. Randolph County has partial participation, which means the system shows basic index data but not full document images.
When you search Randolph County criminal cases in CourtConnect, you can expect to see party names, case numbers, filing dates, case status and disposition, scheduled hearing dates, and general docket entries. What will not appear are actual court documents, affidavits, transcripts, or exhibits. Sealed records and juvenile cases are also excluded. Cases that predate Randolph County's entry into the Contexte case management system do not appear in the online database either.
If a search returns nothing, the case may be older than the county's Contexte start date. For those records, calling the clerk's office directly is your best option. CourtConnect goes down for maintenance from 12:30 AM to 2:00 AM on weekdays and from Saturday evening through Sunday noon.
Note: CourtConnect partial participation means you get case index data but must contact the clerk's office for document copies.
How to Request Records in Randolph County
Visiting the Pocahontas courthouse in person gives you the fastest access to Randolph County criminal court records. Bring a photo ID, any known case details such as party names or the case number, and cash or a check to pay copy fees. Staff can pull the record, let you know what it costs to copy, and process your request on the same visit in most cases. Public access terminals are available inside the courthouse for self-directed searches.
Mail requests are also accepted. Send a written letter to Randolph County Circuit Clerk, P.O. Box 349, Pocahontas, AR 72455. Include the full name of the defendant, the approximate filing year, the case type, and the case number if you have it. Attach a check or money order for estimated copy fees and a self-addressed stamped envelope for the return. Expect 7 to 14 business days for mail turnaround. If your request is time-sensitive, calling the office first to confirm the case exists will save time.
Standard copies are $0.25 per page. Certified copies cost $5.00 per document. Inspecting public records in person carries no charge under Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-101, the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, which requires public records to be available during regular office hours. Fee waivers for indigent parties require prior court approval.
Arrest Records and the Randolph County Sheriff
Arrest records in Randolph County are kept by the Sheriff's Office, not the Circuit Clerk. The Sheriff's Office is located at 1510 Pace Road, Pocahontas, AR 72455. Phone is (870) 892-8888. Arrest records, warrant information, inmate records, and incident reports all come from the Sheriff rather than the court clerk.
To get an incident report, you submit a written FOIA request to the Sheriff's Office. Under Arkansas FOIA law, the agency must respond within three business days. Include the date, time, and general location of the incident, and the names of the parties involved if you know them. For warrant verification, plan on an in-person visit with a valid ID. The Sheriff handles warrant lookups on a case-by-case basis and does not run blanket warrant searches over the phone.
For a statewide background check, the Arkansas State Police Criminal Background Check system searches records across all 75 counties for $22.00 per name. This is useful when you need broader coverage beyond Randolph County alone or when you are unsure which county a person has records in.
Note: An arrest record from the Sheriff does not always mean a circuit court case was filed. The two offices keep separate records.
Types of Criminal Cases in Randolph County Circuit Court
The Circuit Clerk in Pocahontas handles several categories of criminal court records. Felony cases make up the largest share. These include drug charges, theft and property crimes, violent offenses, and weapons violations. Misdemeanor cases appealed from district court also land in the circuit clerk's files, as do domestic-violence related criminal filings that are elevated to circuit level.
Each criminal case file in Randolph County typically holds the charging document or information, any arrest warrant issued before or at the time of arrest, bond paperwork, pretrial motions, plea agreements, and the final judgment and sentencing order. The docket sheet shows every step in the case timeline from initial filing through final disposition. If you need to check whether a judgment was appealed, the docket sheet will show that too.
Some records are not available to the public. Juvenile delinquency cases are sealed under Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-309. Court-ordered sealed or expunged records also do not show up in public searches. Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and victim addresses in domestic violence matters are redacted from public copies. Very old Randolph County records from the 1800s and early 1900s may exist only in physical archives at the courthouse or at the Arkansas State Archives.
Randolph County Court Filing Fees
When a new criminal case is filed in Randolph County Circuit Court, standard filing fees apply under Ark. Code Ann. § 21-6-403. New case filings carry a $165.00 fee. Appeals from district court cost $150.00 to file. Reopening a previously closed case requires a $50.00 fee. These fees are paid to the Circuit Clerk at the time of filing.
Parties who cannot pay fees due to financial hardship may petition the court for indigency status. If the court approves the petition, certain fees may be waived. A fee waiver does not cover the copy cost for records requests made by third parties, only for the filing party in an active case.
Randolph County Court Resources
Several tools can help with Randolph County criminal record research. The Arkansas Administrative Office of the Courts lists contact information for every Arkansas court and offers self-help guides and forms. The Arkansas Courthouse Kiosk program places public terminals at select courthouses where you can search records and access legal forms at no cost. The Arkansas Association of Counties directory has circuit clerk contact details for all 75 counties. For federal cases involving Randolph County defendants, the PACER system provides access to federal court filings through the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Nearby Counties
If the case you need was filed in a neighboring county, these Circuit Clerk offices may have the records you are looking for.