In this state, most of the criminal records that fall under the category of felony crimes are found to be under the Circuit Court’s jurisdiction. The Circuit Court is the one responsible for handling all felony trials, all juvenile cases and some misdemeanor charges, although preliminary hearings for felony cases may also be heard at the two other courts. The state criminal records for ordinance violations including all traffic violations are commonly handled by the City or the District Courts.

For individuals who need an Arkansas criminal background check, they may obtain it in two ways; manually or electronically. The manual process requires the individual to sign a State Police Form (ASP-122) which will need to be notarized after. The completely filled-out form along with the payment ($20) should be placed in a stamped envelope and mailed to the Arkansas State Police, Identification Bureau, 1 State Police Plaza Drive, Little Rock, AR 72209. The turn-around time for this method is about 7-10 days excluding the mailing time. Once the background check is done, the results will be mailed back to the individual authorized on the form. This method is open to all individuals as long as they’ve provided a written and notarized release of the subject of the request. The electronic process on the other hand is reserved only for employers and professional licensing boards. These entities are required to register first with the Arkansas State Police and have their applications approved. Once approved, the employer or the professional licensing board will be granted electronic access to certain criminal history records.  For further information on this topic, try visiting the Arkansas State Police website or search Arkansas criminal records.