Checking Criminal History in Drew County
Drew County criminal records do not sit in one public database. A court case search starts with Search ARCourts or the Drew County Circuit Clerk. A recent custody check starts with the Drew County Sheriff's Office inmate feed. A name-based Arkansas repository search starts with Arkansas Criminal History, or ARCH. Sex offender status is checked through the Arkansas Sex Offender Registry, while state prison and supervision questions may move to Arkansas DOC tools or VINE.
The best first step is to identify the record slice. A booking entry can show charges before a prosecutor or court has completed the case. A court file can show a disposition even after the jail feed no longer lists the person. ARCH can show Arkansas convictions and certain open felony arrests, but it omits many local events that still may exist in police, jail, or court files.
- Use Search ARCourts first when the goal is a filed criminal case, charge, hearing, plea, or disposition.
- Use the Drew County Sheriff's inmate feed or detention center phone line for current custody and recent booking questions.
- Use ARCH for a public Arkansas name-based criminal history search, with first name, last name, sex, and date of birth.
- Contact the Circuit Clerk or 28th State District Court when online results are missing, old, sealed, or not official enough.
- Use the record-holding agency, not a search box, for certified copies, corrections, sealing questions, and official answers.
Drew County Records Start Downtown
Most local criminal record work in Drew County points to three Monticello counters. The Circuit Clerk at 210 S. Main Street keeps circuit criminal case records and official circuit court copies. The sheriff at 210 South Main Street is the law enforcement and jail contact for deputy reports, jail records, warrants or holds that appear in custody records, and detention questions. The 28th State District Court at 107 East Jackson Street handles most Drew County misdemeanor criminal cases, along with DWI, traffic, and Game and Fish matters.
Drew County Circuit Clerk
(870) 460-6250
210 S. Main Street, Monticello, AR 71655. Beverly Burks is listed as Circuit Clerk; hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Drew County Sheriff's Office
(870) 367-6211
210 South Main Street, Monticello, AR 71655. The county public safety page lists the phone as a 24-hour line.
28th State District Court
(870) 367-4420
107 East Jackson Street, Monticello, AR 71655. The court page says most Drew misdemeanor criminal cases are heard there.
The Drew County homepage shows the county government address and general courthouse hours. The records point matters because a single person can have a police report, a booking entry, a court case, and an ARCH result that do not update at the same time.
Arkansas Official Background Checks
Arkansas's central criminal history repository is administered by the Arkansas Crime Information Center, within the Arkansas Department of Public Safety. The Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau is the public-facing channel for state name checks and mailed or in-person certified check processes. The general public can use ARCH without written consent, but the result is a limited Arkansas-only name-based report, not a fingerprint-confirmed national record.
The Arkansas State Police Online Criminal Background Check System at CBC is different. It is for authorized entities or searches with signed written consent, uses a Tyler Arkansas account, and includes separate state name and National/FBI fingerprint check categories. Arkansas State Police also posts ASP-122 mail-in background check forms for state checks.
| Check | Fee | Use |
|---|---|---|
| ARCH public name search | $24 | Public Arkansas name-based search, debit or credit card only. |
| CBC Arkansas State name check | $22 | Authorized or consent-based state check through CBC. |
| CBC National/FBI fingerprint check | $13 | Fingerprint-based channel when state or federal law authorizes it. |
| ASP-122 mail-in state check | $25 | Check or money order payable to Arkansas State Police; no cash. |
ARCH Is Not a Drew Case File
ARCH is useful, but it is not the same thing as a Drew County court file. ARCH can return Arkansas felony and misdemeanor convictions, open Arkansas felony arrests less than three years old, and whether the subject is a registered sex offender or required to register. It excludes juvenile records, dismissed charges, unresolved misdemeanor arrests, felony arrests more than three years old, not-guilty charges, active warrants, sealed arrests or convictions, pardoned convictions, traffic citation history, out-of-state records, federal records, and arrests that were not fingerprinted.
A Drew County court file is narrower in geography but deeper in case detail. It can show the charging document, docket events, hearings, motions, pleas, orders, disposition, sentencing, and court costs when public. A jail feed is different again: it can show current custody and booking data, but it may not show the final outcome.
| Record | Best Source | Main Limit |
|---|---|---|
| State criminal history | ARCH or Arkansas State Police | Name-based reports are not fingerprint guarantees. |
| Filed criminal case | Search ARCourts, Circuit Clerk, District Court | Online printouts are not certified court records. |
| Current custody | Drew County Sheriff's inmate feed | Roster entries are not final court outcomes. |
| Police report | Arresting or investigating agency | Active investigations and protected data may be withheld. |
Criminal Record Types
Drew County criminal records are best sorted by who creates them. Deputies, city officers, campus police, and state troopers create incident and arrest reports. The Drew County Detention Center creates booking entries after a person is taken into custody there. Prosecutors and courts create charging and case records. ACIC and Arkansas State Police maintain repository history. The Arkansas Department of Corrections and VINE add the custody and supervision layer after a county case moves beyond local jail.
- Arrest and booking records: made by the arresting agency and Drew County Detention Center.
- Criminal court case files: held by circuit or district court, depending on the case level.
- Repository reports: issued through ARCH, CBC, ASP, or ACIC review and correction channels.
- Warrant records: issued by courts and handled through sheriff or court contacts, not a Drew online warrant database.
- Registry and custody records: checked through the Arkansas registry, DOC inmate search, VINE, and local jail data.
Drew Sheriff App and Jail Feed
The Drew County Sheriff's Office has an OCV website and mobile app presence that is more detailed than the basic county sheriff page. The sheriff OCV site includes jail information, an inmate feed, most wanted, news, staff directory features, school information, submit-a-tip, a sex offender map shortcut, community outreach, and app download prompts. The app share page lists Apple app id 6499225628 and Google Play app id com.ocv.a1125.
The official Drew County sheriff page names Sheriff Tim Nichols and shows the Main Street contact block.
That county page is the formal contact point, while the OCV tools add the jail and app features a records user may need for recent activity.
The Drew County Sheriff's Office OCV home shows the app-enabled jail, most wanted, staff, and alert features.
Use those tools for current custody and sheriff services, then move to the court or state repository when a filed case or conviction record is the real target.
Inside a Drew County Criminal Record
A Drew County criminal record can show different fields depending on the source. ARCH sample results show subject identifiers, incident date, arresting agency, felony or misdemeanor class, charge, requester transaction data, and an Arkansas-only scope warning. Search ARCourts and court records show case and docket data. The jail feed shows current inmate cards with booking date, demographics, physical descriptors, local inmate ID, charge descriptions, and photo URLs when present.
| Name and identifiers | ARCH uses first and last name, masked birth date, sex, and race; jail records may show age instead of full DOB. |
|---|---|
| Arrest and booking data | Booking date, charge descriptions, current custody, and local inmate ID may appear in the sheriff feed. |
| Charges and class | ARCH can show felony or misdemeanor class, while jail feed charge descriptions may lack a statute code. |
| Disposition | Court records are the best public source for a plea, dismissal, conviction, acquittal, or sentence. |
| Custody status | Use the county jail feed for local custody, Arkansas DOC for state prison, and VINE for notification status. |
Search ARCourts Before the Clerk
The statewide Search ARCourts portal is the fastest way to begin a Drew County criminal court check when a case has been filed. The public landing page exposes a participant search, and the Arkansas Judiciary help page notes support for CourtConnect and Search ARCourts use. Public print output carries a warning that it is not an official court record, so certified or official copies still route to the clerk.
The Drew County Circuit Court kiosk page identifies felony criminal cases at Drew County Circuit Court.
The courthouse contact details matter when a search result needs a certified record, a sealed-case answer, or a copy from the clerk's file.
Public Access Laws in Arkansas
Arkansas gives broad public access to records, but criminal history access has limits. The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act of 1967 governs public-records requests to local agencies. The Arkansas Criminal Records Act and Act 1185 of 2015 support public access to certain Arkansas criminal history information through Arkansas State Police channels. The Comprehensive Criminal Record Sealing Act controls petitions to seal eligible records.
Key Statutes:
Act 1185 of 2015 authorizes public access to certain Arkansas criminal history information upon request and fee payment.
Ark. Code Ann. 16-90-1405 sets misdemeanor and violation sealing eligibility rules.
Ark. Code Ann. 5-4-401 explains Arkansas felony and misdemeanor incarceration classes.
Ark. Code Ann. 25-19-101 et seq. is the Arkansas FOIA framework for local public records.
No Drew County Warrant Search
No official Drew County active-warrant search was found. The sheriff OCV manifest includes Most Wanted and Submit a Tip features, and the inmate feed may list a charge description such as "WARRANT" or "HOLD FOR OTHER AGENCY," but that is not a full active-warrant database. A warrant question needs the issuing court or the law enforcement agency that holds the process.
Call the Drew County Sheriff's Office for sheriff-held warrant questions. Contact the 28th State District Court for bench warrants tied to misdemeanor, traffic, DWI, or Game and Fish cases. Contact the Circuit Clerk or Circuit Court for felony case warrants or capias records. Search ARCourts can show docket events that explain a warrant, and VINE can help after a person enters custody.
Sealed, Expunged, and Restricted Records
Arkansas practical guidance uses sealing. ACIC notes that it cannot determine which Order to Seal form a person should use, and it directs people who cannot identify the correct order to legal advice or Arkansas Legal Aid. After the petition and order are completed, the person takes them to the court where the sentence was entered. For Drew County, that usually means the Circuit Clerk for circuit cases or 28th State District Court for district misdemeanors.
ARCH excludes sealed arrests and convictions, juvenile records, dismissed charges, unresolved misdemeanor arrests, not-guilty charges, pardoned convictions, older open felony arrests, active warrants, traffic history, and records outside Arkansas. A clean ARCH result is not proof that no local file ever existed. It only means the public ARCH product did not return a report under its scope.
- Sealing
- Arkansas process that restricts public access to eligible records after a court order.
- Disposition
- The court's final outcome for a charge or case.
- Capias
- A court order directing law enforcement to take a person into custody.
- Nolle prosequi
- A prosecutor's decision to abandon or decline a charge.
Drew Jail Before DOC Transfer
The Drew County Jail and Detention Center houses pretrial detainees and post-conviction inmates serving sentences or waiting on Arkansas Department of Corrections transport. The jail page says the facility has male and female housing areas, isolation and temporary holding cells, and certified jailers trained in ACIC/NCIC terminal operations, dispatch procedures, and BAC Datamaster procedures. Detention questions go to (870) 460-6215, while the jail administrator number is (870) 460-6218.
If a person no longer appears in the county feed, the next step may be Arkansas DOC Inmate Search, the DOC online services center, or Arkansas VINE. Drew County is also served by the DOC Division of Community Correction Monticello Office at 309 Hwy 425 South.
ACIC 2024 Drew County Numbers
ACIC's 2024 offense table gives a Drew County population base of 16,833 and a captured total of 701 reported offenses across Drew County contributors. Monticello PD accounted for 461 of that captured total, Drew County Sheriff's Office for 160, and University of Arkansas at Monticello Police for 80. ACIC also reported 185 crimes against persons in the county-level row, 131 captured crimes against property, and 134 captured crimes against society.
ACIC cautions that incident-based statistics are reports known and submitted by law enforcement. They are not prosecution, adjudication, or correctional data. Use the numbers as context for where records originate, not as a ranking of places.
Drew County Criminal Records by City
City-level criminal records in Drew County depend on the local police and court setup. Monticello has the main city police department and district court corridor. Wilmar and Tillar do not have official police records pages in the captured sources, so their pages route readers to county, court, and statewide systems while preserving the local facts that matter.
Monticello Criminal Records
Population 8,095 in ACIC's 2024 table. MPD, district court, sheriff, and courthouse records converge in Monticello.
Wilmar Criminal Records
2024 estimate 392. Wilmar records generally route to Drew County courts, sheriff channels, ARCH, and ACIC tools.
Tillar Criminal Records
2024 estimate 158. Tillar crosses Drew and Desha counties, so confirming the county is the first task.
Drew County Source Screens
The Drew County public safety page shows the sheriff's 24-hour phone, email, address, and administrative hours.
That page is the phone and email fallback when the app feed or county page is not enough for a jail or sheriff records question.
The ARCH portal is the public state repository path for Arkansas name-based criminal history.
ARCH should be read with its exclusions in mind, especially for dismissed cases, sealed records, and local files that never become public repository history.
The Arkansas State Police CBC login is the authorized or consent-based check channel.
CBC is not the same as the broad public ARCH search; it is a separate background-check system with its own account and fee rules.
The Association of Arkansas Counties Drew directory is a secondary official directory for county officials.
Directory pages are useful when a county department page changes but the office holder and county contact need confirmation.