How to Search Benton County Court Records
The state-run portal is the starting point. Benton County links it as CourtConnect, View Dockets, Find Court Records, and Court Docket. The underlying system is Arkansas Judiciary Case Search at caseinfo.arcourts.gov/opad. It covers Benton County Circuit Court cases filed into the statewide Contexte system. District court traffic and misdemeanor records sit on separate city portals.
Before starting, have a party name, an organization or case description, or a case number ready. The default search runs by participant. Advanced filters narrow by court, county, date range, and case category. The portal warns at the top of every print that the results are not an official record. For certified copies, the Circuit Clerk at 102 NE A St. holds the underlying files.
- Open caseinfo.arcourts.gov/opad. Pick Participants search.
- Enter the first and last name. Add middle name or organization or case description if helpful.
- Open Advanced Filters to narrow by court, county, date range, or category.
- Review the docket. Note the case number, judge, and next hearing.
- Call Civil/Domestic at 479-271-1015 or Criminal at 479-271-1016 to order a certified copy.
The landing page of the statewide search portal is visible at caseinfo.arcourts.gov/opad.
The Participants search box and the Advanced Filters icon are the two main controls. Anyone searching Benton County Circuit Court files starts here.
The Benton County Judicial System
Arkansas runs four levels of trial-and-appellate courts plus specialty courts. From highest to lowest: the Arkansas Supreme Court, the Arkansas Court of Appeals, Circuit Courts, and District Courts. Specialty courts (Adult Drug, Veterans Treatment, Mental Health) operate through Circuit Court authority. The full Arkansas Judiciary court structure page lists the official hierarchy.
Benton County's Circuit Court was reorganized under Arkansas Constitutional Amendment 80, effective July 1, 2001. Effective January 1, 2002, Circuit Court consists of five subject-matter divisions: criminal, civil, probate, domestic relations, and juvenile. Judges run in nonpartisan elections and serve six-year terms, and must have been licensed Arkansas attorneys for six years before taking office.
Case flow: District Court › Circuit Court › Arkansas Court of Appeals › Arkansas Supreme Court. Federal cases route through the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas with appeals to the Eighth Circuit.
| Court | Jurisdiction | Case Types |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas Supreme Court | Statewide | Final appeals on state law |
| Arkansas Court of Appeals | Statewide intermediate | Most appeals from circuit court |
| Circuit Court (Benton County, 7 divisions) | General | Criminal, civil, probate, domestic relations, juvenile |
| District Court (10 Benton County departments) | Limited | Traffic, misdemeanor, ordinance, preliminary felony, civil to $25,000, small claims to $5,000 |
| Specialty Courts | Program-based | Adult Drug, Veterans Treatment, Mental Health |
The official explainer for Arkansas District Courts sits at arcourts.gov/courts/district-courts.
That page lays out the territorial jurisdiction, the $25,000 civil ceiling, the $5,000 small-claims limit, and the 2025 statewide count of 41 districts served by 70 judges.
Benton County Courthouses
The county uses a clustered campus in downtown Bentonville rather than one tall courthouse. Several official addresses sit within a few blocks of each other: 100 NE A St., 102 NE A St., 201 NE 2nd St., 215 E Central Ave., 1301 Melissa Dr., and 1204 SW 14th St. The Detention Center is a separate building at 1300 SW 14th St.
Circuit Clerk / Circuit Court
102 NE A St.
Bentonville, AR 72712
479-271-1015 / 479-271-1016
County Clerk / Recorder
215 E Central Ave.
Bentonville, AR 72712
479-271-1013
Sheriff's Office / Detention Center
1300 SW 14th St.
Bentonville, AR 72712
479-271-1008
The full county office directory lives at bentoncountyar.gov/office-directory.
The directory cross-references every county office handling court-adjacent records, including Circuit Clerk, County Clerk, Recorder, Probate, Prosecuting Attorney, Public Defender, and the Sheriff.
Benton County Circuit Court Judges
Seven Circuit Court divisions split the docket across multiple Bentonville addresses. Each judge is elected to a six-year term under Amendment 80.
| Division | Judge | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Division 1 | Hon. Robin Green | 102 NE A St. | 479-271-1026 |
| Division 2 | Hon. Brad Karren | 201 NE 2nd St. | 479-271-1063 |
| Division 3 | Hon. Tom Smith | 1301 Melissa Dr., Suite 5 | 479-271-1020 |
| Division 4 | Hon. John R. Scott | 102 NE A St. | 479-271-1022 |
| Division 5 | Hon. Xollie Duncan | 102 NE A St. | 479-271-1024 |
| Division 6 | Hon. R. Doug Schrantz | 215 E Central Ave. | 479-464-6114 |
| Division 7 | Hon. Christine Horwart | 102 NE A St. | 479-268-9614 |
The official roster of Benton County Circuit Court judges is published at bentoncountyar.gov/circuit-judges.
The county's directory entry confirms division numbers, judge names, addresses, and phone and fax numbers for each Circuit Court division.
Types of Court Records Available in Benton County
Different records sit in different buckets. Circuit Court holds the felony, big-dollar civil, domestic, probate, and juvenile case files. District courts hold traffic, misdemeanor, ordinance, and small-claims files. The County Clerk holds marriage licenses and probate. The Sheriff holds booking and warrant records.
- Criminal records - felony cases at Circuit Court; misdemeanor cases at district courts; see criminal records.
- Civil records - claims over $25,000 at Circuit Court; up to $25,000 at district courts; small claims under $5,000.
- Family / divorce records - domestic relations at Circuit Court; see marriage and divorce records.
- Probate records - wills, estates, guardianships at the County Clerk Probate office; see probate records.
- Traffic records - district court departments by city; payments through Arkansas eTraffic.
- Warrant records - Sheriff's Zuercher portal with bond, charge, and DOB.
- Jail records - inmate records and released inmates through the Detention Center.
What Benton County Court Records Show
A typical Circuit Court file holds the parties, the case number, the filing date, every event posted to the docket, the disposition, and money items like fines, restitution, bond, and payments. Hearings show date, time, courtroom, and judge. Some filings carry document links inside the portal. Many do not, and certified copies must be ordered from the Circuit Clerk.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case Number | Official docket identifier; format varies by court. |
| Filing Date | Date the case was opened. |
| Parties | Plaintiff/defendant, petitioner/respondent, state/defendant. |
| Charges / Cause | Statute citation, count list, or claim description. |
| Disposition | Outcome of each charge or claim. |
| Sentence / Judgment | Money judgment, jail/prison time, probation, restitution. |
| Hearings | Date, time, courtroom, hearing type, assigned judge. |
| Docket Events | Filings, summons, motions, orders, continuances, appeals. |
| Redactions | SSNs, account numbers, juvenile info, sealed entries. |
Public Access Laws for Benton County Court Records
Two layers of law open Benton County court records. The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act presumes public access to public records. Administrative Order No. 19 sets the access rule for court records and carves out specific confidential categories.
Key Statutes:
Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-105 - opens public records to inspection and copying by Arkansas citizens during regular business hours.
Administrative Order No. 19 - opens most court records but excludes Social Security numbers, account numbers, sealed records, juvenile records, and adoption records.
Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-309 - juvenile court records are confidential within statutory limits.
Ark. Code Ann. § 16-90-1401 et seq. - the Comprehensive Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2013 restricts public access to sealed records.
Ark. Code Ann. § 12-12-1009 - controls dissemination of criminal history information by state criminal-information systems.
Records That Are Restricted or Confidential
Several record categories are not public. Juvenile records are confidential. Adoption records are sealed under Ark. Code Ann. § 9-9-217. Mental health records, grand jury materials, attorney work product, ongoing investigation files, and protective-order address details are restricted or redacted. Sealed cases under § 16-90-1401 drop off the public docket.
To seal an eligible criminal case, the petitioner files in the court that handled the case. The petition must identify the case, the statutory basis, and the eligibility facts. Once sealed, the record stays available to law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, and some licensing bodies but disappears from the public docket. CDL convictions cannot be sealed in a way that removes them from the federal CDLIS file.
Specialty Courts in Benton County
Benton County runs three problem-solving courts under Circuit Court Division III with Judge Tom Smith presiding. Adult Drug Court, Veterans Treatment Court, and Mental Health Court all sit under the Specialty Courts office at 1204 SW 14th St., Suite 7, phone 479-696-9970. Specialty Court Administrator Michelle Barrett coordinates entry; case managers handle phase progression. These programs can convert a routine criminal case into treatment, supervision, and graduation outcomes that change the public docket entry.
Benton County Sheriff and Jail
Sheriff Shawn Holloway runs the Sheriff's Office at 1300 SW 14th St., Bentonville. The Detention Center attached to the office holds 669 beds in 100,355 square feet and opened in April 1999. The Sheriff's website publishes the inmate roster, the warrant search, the FOI form, and the Most Wanted list. A May 19, 2026 public API pull returned 617 inmates in custody, about 92% of rated capacity.
For the full roster lookup and field inventory, see Benton County inmate records. For active warrants, see warrant records. For released-inmate searches, VINELink, and the Arkansas DOC and BOP locators, see released inmates. For population trends and context, see inmate population.
The Sheriff's live inmate roster is at benton-so-ar.zuercherportal.com.
Filters on the roster cover name, race, sex, cell block, arrest date, held-for agency, in-custody date, and release date.
Marriage, Divorce, and Probate Records
Marriage licenses are issued by County Clerk Betsy Harrell at 215 E Central Ave., Bentonville, with branch offices in Rogers and Siloam Springs. Both parties must appear together with photo ID, be over 18, and pay $60.00 exact cash or $62.80 by card. The completed license must return to Benton County within 60 days. See marriage and divorce records for the full process. Divorces are domestic relations cases at Circuit Court, kept by Circuit Clerk Brenda DeShields. Probate sits under the County Clerk at 102 NE A St., Room 206. See probate records for the full overview.
- Testator
- The person who made a will.
- Executor / Personal Representative
- The person named to administer the estate.
- Conservator
- Court-appointed manager of an incapacitated person's financial affairs.
- Guardian
- Court-appointed decision maker for a minor or incapacitated adult.
Benton County Court Records Fees
The Circuit Clerk fee schedule sets the price of court-record copies and filing fees. Recorder fees come from a separate schedule. Marriage licenses run $60.00 cash exact or $62.80 by card. Driver records sit at Arkansas DFA, not at the courthouse.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Copy of pleading or document | $0.25 per page |
| Certification of a court document | $5.00 |
| Authentication of a court document | $5.00 |
| Initiating a civil or domestic cause | $165.00 |
| Initiating an appealed criminal cause | $150.00 |
| Reopening a case | $50.00 |
| Marriage license, cash | $60.00 exact |
| Marriage license, card | $62.80 |
| Standard recorder filing, first page | $15.00 |
How to Interpret Benton County Court Records
Docket entries use a short vocabulary. "Complaint Filed" opens a civil case. "Answer Filed" is the defendant's response. "Motion" requests a court action. "Order" is the judge's ruling. "Disposition" is the final outcome. "Dismissed with prejudice" closes a claim and bars refiling. "Dismissed without prejudice" leaves room to refile. "Sealed" or "Expunged" entries are restricted under § 16-90-1401 et seq. A criminal docket adds "Arraignment," "Plea," "Bench Warrant," and "Judgment & Commitment." A domestic docket adds "Standing Order Entered," "Decree of Divorce," and "Order of Protection."
Accuracy and Record Limitations
Online portals lag behind real court action. A bench warrant signed today may take a day or more to appear in CourtConnect or the Sheriff's database. A case sealed yesterday may still show in archived screenshots. Officials at the originating office are the source of truth. For any decision that turns on a record, call the office that holds the file before acting.
Note: Confirm Benton County Court details with the originating office before relying on online records for a legal, employment, or insurance decision.
History of Benton County Courts
Benton County was created in 1836 with Bentonville as the county seat. The historic Benton County Courthouse in Bentonville is commonly identified as a 1928 building. The modern court system distributes its functions across the courthouse and several nearby county buildings. Amendment 80 reshaped Circuit Court statewide in 2001. The Detention Center, opened in April 1999, was designed after Sheriff Andy Lee and the planning team toured eight jails in Colorado and Wyoming, resulting in a 100,355-square-foot, 669-bed facility funded by a half-cent jail tax.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I search Benton County court records?
Use Arkansas Judiciary Case Search at caseinfo.arcourts.gov/opad, the portal Benton County links as CourtConnect. Search by participant name or organization/case description. Use advanced filters for court, county, date range, and category. Certified copies come from the Circuit Clerk at 479-271-1015 (Civil/Domestic) or 479-271-1016 (Criminal). Printed search results carry a watermark stating they are not official.
Where do I get a marriage license?
The Benton County Clerk at 215 E Central Ave., phone 479-271-1013. Both parties must appear together with photo ID and be over 18. Fees are $60.00 exact cash or $62.80 by card. Branch offices in Rogers (2111 W Walnut St.) and Siloam Springs (707 Lincoln St.) also issue licenses. The completed license must return within 60 days.
How do I find someone in the Benton County jail?
Use the Sheriff's Zuercher inmate roster at benton-so-ar.zuercherportal.com. Search by name with optional filters for race, sex, cell block, arrest date, agency, and release date. Results show mugshot, name, race, sex, age, arrest date, holding agency, release date, and hold reasons.
More on the Benton County Court Records FAQ page.