Request Craighead County Court Records

How to Get Court Records

Open with Search ARCourts. Write down the case number. Know what you want first. An event list, one pleading, a signed order, a judgment, or the whole public file can all lead to different counters. Craighead County Circuit Clerk David Vaughn keeps circuit civil, criminal, domestic-relations, and juvenile records. County Clerk Mary Dawn Marshall holds probate and county-court files. District Court Clerk staff maintain traffic, misdemeanor, small-claims, and limited-civil records.

The online search is free but not official. In-person counters, phone calls, and written requests returned by mail are the documented routes. County FOIA contact Wendy French covers county administrative records only. Email wfrench@craigheadcountyar.gov or call 870-933-4500. Judicial case documents go first to the court clerk under Administrative Order 19.

1. Find the case number and exact court through Search ARCourts or a court notice.
2. Name the item needed and choose a plain or certified copy.
3. Call the responsible clerk for page count, charges, payment method, and timing.
4. Submit the request at the counter or by mail under that office's directions.
5. Keep the receipt and clerk certification with the delivered record.

Craighead Court Record Layers

Three products get mixed up constantly. A docket or event list is just a chronological index of filings and court activity. A filed document is the real thing. It is the pleading, exhibit, notice, order, or judgment behind an entry. A certified copy is a clerk-attested reproduction that counts as an official court record.

A Search ARCourts printout may be enough. It can follow a case or confirm the latest public event. Printing it does not make it certified. When the wording of a ruling matters, ask for the signed order instead of trusting the short event label.

Types of Court Records

What a Craighead County court record holds depends on which office keeps it. Circuit Court files can carry felony, major civil, domestic-relations, juvenile, and appeal records. Public-access limits still apply. District Court files cover traffic, misdemeanor, small-claims, and eligible limited-civil matters. Probate is the local exception. It is routed through the County Clerk.

The usual public products are dockets, pleadings, motions, notices, orders, judgments, writs, and disposition records. A transcript is something else. The trial court can name the official court reporter who recorded the proceeding. That reporter gives a separate estimate.

• Docket or chronological event list
• Named pleading, motion, or notice
• Signed order or judgment
• Disposition or certified case document
• Writ, summons, or other authorized process

Craighead Court Record Custodians

In a county with split duties and two seats, "call the clerk" is too vague. The Circuit Clerk is the main custodian for circuit litigation. The County Clerk keeps probate. District Court offices in Jonesboro and Lake City hold their own lower-court files. The official county department directory maps these offices. It also lists their duties. Match the exact court name from the docket first. Then pick a phone number.

What a Court Record Contains

A Craighead County court record usually opens with case identity: the court, the type, the status. From there it may show participants and counsel, charges or claims, filings, settings, orders, dispositions, and public financial entries. Detail varies with case type and access rule.

Read dates by their function. Filing, signed, scheduled, and disposition dates are not interchangeable. A case can close and still take later collection or enforcement entries.

Craighead Court Record Mail Requests

The Craighead courts offer no dedicated online form for judicial copies. A clear written request still works. Include your contact details, the court level, case number, case style, document title or event date, product type, certification choice, and delivery method. Also state a maximum cost. Ask the office to quote the plain-copy charge and total before any payment goes out. The county does document mailed return of certified copies. It publishes no single payment method or electronic-delivery promise covering every court.

• Requester name, mailing address, telephone, and email
• Exact court, case number, and case style
• Docket, document title, order, or judgment requested
• Plain or certified copy and desired delivery
• Cost limit and request for approval above that amount

Certified Copies and Fees

Craighead County publishes a $5 certification charge. It appears under Ark. Code §21-6-402(b)(3). The official fee page lists no general plain-copy or exemplification price. Confirm those amounts with the clerk who holds the file. Filing fees are separate. They are not the cost of pulling an existing record. The county clerk fee schedule shows the current published amounts.

The clerk's posted fee schedule sets the certification charge, while copy costs come by a direct quote.

Craighead Court Record Cost Checks

Before any payment leaves your hands, get numbers. Ask for the page count, the plain-copy rate, and the certification charge. Also ask about accepted tender, delivery option, and expected turnaround. If you lack a case number, ask whether staff charge for an index search. Setting a maximum cost keeps the request from stalling. District Court does publish ways to pay fines. But that does not mean every clerk takes the same tender for mailed copies. Follow the directions of the office that holds the file.

Craighead Court Record Archives

Digging for older Craighead County court records means paper, bound volumes, microfilm, or digitized images. Preservation is underway. A 2024 county award to Kofile Technologies paid for transporting, preserving, digitizing, and archiving Circuit Court record books. That work protects the books themselves. It does not mean every volume is searchable online. The county awards page documents the archive project.

Hunting an old file works better with details in hand. Give the clerk an approximate year, the party or case style, the court division, and the likely county seat so staff can search past what the current portal holds.

Craighead Court Record Certification

Search ARCourts states plainly that its case information is not an official court record. Remember that when a judgment, disposition, or exact order matters. Treat the online event label as a locator only. Then ask the clerk for the signed document with certification. A browser printout and a certified copy can show similar details. Yet they come from different sources. The clerk's seal or attestation is what turns the copy into an official reproduction.

Public Access and Sealed Records

Administrative Order 19 controls access to Arkansas court records and lists its exclusions. Some things are never ordinary public content. Social Security numbers, account numbers, many minor names, and material made confidential by law, rule, or court order all stay protected. Electronic filing under Administrative Order 21 does not make every document downloadable. Juvenile files carry special statutory protection. Adoption records, protected child-welfare material, sealed exhibits, and restricted documents may not appear even when the case shell is visible. Getting sealed material generally requires party or attorney status, or a court order.

Craighead Court Records and FOIA

The Craighead County transparency page maps court-record and FOIA routes and names the county FOIA contact.

That channel suits county administrative records. For pleadings, orders, judgments, and case dockets, go to the clerk who keeps the judicial file.

Craighead Court Record Fallbacks

A public terminal may show no more than Search ARCourts. And the county promises nothing beyond that; the clerk offers no court-copy fax or drop-box process. Call ahead before a special trip. That matters if you need terminal access, an old volume, or same-day certification. Counter hours at the courthouse and annex run Monday through Friday. They run 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. An online case gone missing? Check the spelling, court, county seat, case number, and legacy coverage. Missing document image? Request it by title and event date. If the file is sealed, only the clerk or court can say what access process applies.