If you think there might be a warrant out for your arrest in Arkansas, the worst thing you can do is nothing. A warrant generally doesn’t expire on its own, and it can surface at a traffic stop, in a background check, over a license issue, or in any other contact with police or the courts. The good news: warrants can be checked, and many can be resolved in a controlled way, sometimes without a night in jail.
Here’s how to check for a warrant in Arkansas, what the official online search can and can’t tell you, and what to do if you find one.
The Most Important Thing to Know
A warrant handled proactively — through an attorney, on your schedule — usually goes better than a warrant served on you at a traffic stop, at work, or at your front door. The difference can be whether you’re booked and held, or whether your attorney arranges a planned surrender or gets the warrant recalled. Don’t wait for it to find you.
The Three Types of Warrants in Arkansas
“Warrant” is a broad term. Which type you’re dealing with changes what it means and how it’s resolved:
| Type | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Arrest Warrant | Issued when a judge finds probable cause that you committed a crime. Authorizes police to take you into custody. |
| Bench Warrant | Issued by a judge when you fail to appear in court, miss a payment, or violate a court order. A related but distinct order — the “body attachment” — is used in some civil and contempt proceedings to compel a person’s appearance. |
| Search Warrant | Authorizes police to search a specific place for evidence. Unlike the others, it has a deadline: it must be executed within a reasonable time, not to exceed 60 days. |
Ark. R. Crim. P. 13.2(c) (search warrants are executed between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. unless the judge authorizes nighttime execution, and within 60 days either way).
The critical point about arrest and bench warrants: they generally don’t expire. They normally remain outstanding until served, recalled, quashed, or otherwise withdrawn by the court, so a warrant from years ago is very likely still live. In an unusually old case, statute-of-limitations, unreasonable-delay, or other defenses may need to be evaluated by an attorney. The practical takeaway is the same: don’t assume time has cleared it.
How to Find Out If You Have a Warrant
There are several ways to check, ranging from safest to riskiest:
1. Have an Attorney Check (Safest)
This is the method that protects you. A criminal defense attorney can check for warrants discreetly, tell you exactly what you’re facing, and start resolving it before you expose yourself to arrest. When you check on your own and find a warrant, you then have to figure out what to do next. When an attorney checks, the check and the plan happen together.
2. Search ARCourts (Free Online)
The Arkansas Judiciary’s free Search ARCourts portal, which replaced the older Public CourtConnect system, lets anyone search court case records by a participant’s name. To use it:
- Search your name, along with likely variations such as a middle name, a former last name, or a common misspelling.
- Open each matching case and read the docket for warrant or failure-to-appear entries.
- Note the case number, the court, and any upcoming court date.
What a clean result does and doesn’t mean. Search ARCourts is a case search, not a warrant registry, and some warrants aren’t public at all. Coverage also depends on the court. According to the Arkansas Judiciary, most circuit courts post case information through the state system, but only some district courts do. Closer to home, the City of Little Rock says documents in Little Rock District Criminal Court cases “are not accessible online.” And the statewide and national systems police check at a traffic stop aren’t open to you: “ACIC/NCIC information cannot be released to the public.” A clean search doesn’t mean there’s no warrant. It may only mean the issuing court’s records aren’t online.
Arkansas Judiciary, Online Services and CourtConnect court-participation pages; Administrative Office of the Courts, Search ARCourts release (2024); City of Little Rock FAQs; Arkansas Crime Information Center FAQ.
3. Local Warrant Lists and Court Clerks
Because the statewide system doesn’t cover every court, checking locally often matters more. Some sheriff’s offices and police departments post outstanding-warrant lists online, while others post nothing and require a call or visit. The clerk of the specific court where you think a case exists can confirm what that court is holding.
Know what the official route involves. In Little Rock, the city tells people who believe they have a warrant to go to the Little Rock Police Department at 700 West Markham Street “to have the warrant served.” In other words, you’d be taken into custody on it. That’s why the plan should come before the visit. One exception the city notes: a Little Rock District Court warrant issued only for failing to pay a fine can be paid off in full, and the warrant will be recalled.
4. Calling the Court or Sheriff (Riskiest)
You can call the clerk of the court or the sheriff’s office and ask whether there’s a warrant in your name. The stronger reason to route this through an attorney isn’t fear of a specific reaction to your call. It’s that an attorney can investigate the warrant and build a surrender, recall, or bond plan before you physically appear or otherwise put yourself in a position to be taken into custody.
What NOT to Do
- Don’t ignore it. Warrants generally don’t expire. Ignoring one only increases the chance it’s served at the worst possible moment, and missing a required court appearance can support a separate failure-to-appear charge under § 5-54-120.
- Don’t turn yourself in without a plan. Walking into a jail unrepresented means you’re booked, and then you wait for a bond decision and a first appearance on the jail’s timeline. An attorney can often arrange the surrender to limit your time in custody.
- Don’t give police a false name. If you’re stopped and worried about a warrant, falsely identifying yourself to an officer is a crime in itself (§ 5-54-102(a)(4)) and makes every part of the situation worse. See do you have to show your ID to the police?
- Don’t try to explain your way out at a traffic stop. If the officer confirms an active warrant, the officer will ordinarily arrest you. Explaining the underlying situation at the roadside is unlikely to help, and anything you say can be used later. Stay calm, be polite, and invoke your right to remain silent.
- Don’t pay a caller. Warrant scams prey on the fear of arrest: a caller claims you have a warrant or missed jury duty and demands payment. The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office has warned that it “does not collect fines (the court does)” and will not ask anyone to buy a gift card. See the county’s warrant scam alert.
- Don’t post about it online. A post about your warrant or the underlying situation can become evidence. See social media as evidence.
What to Do Instead
1. Contact a Criminal Defense Attorney
This is the first step for a reason. An attorney can confirm the warrant, determine the underlying charge, and build a plan before you take any action that exposes you to arrest.
2. Let the Attorney Assess the Underlying Case
A warrant is attached to something: a missed court date, a new charge, an unpaid fine, a probation violation. The strategy depends on what’s underneath it. If the warrant is in your name but isn’t really about you, because of a mix-up or identity theft, see what happens if police mistake you for someone else.
3. Explore Getting the Warrant Recalled or Quashed
For many bench warrants, especially failure-to-appear situations, an attorney can file a motion to recall or quash the warrant and set a new court date, sometimes resolving it without an arrest.
4. Arrange a Controlled Surrender If Necessary
If surrender is the right move, the attorney can coordinate it, including arranging bond in advance where possible so you can be processed and released rather than held.
5. Prepare for the Underlying Charge
Resolving the warrant is step one. Defending whatever prompted it — the original charge or the missed obligation — is where the real work happens.
Bench Warrants and Failure to Appear
The most common warrant people discover is a bench warrant for missing court. In Arkansas, failure to appear is its own offense under § 5-54-120, and its grade tracks the underlying case:
- Felony case: Class C felony (a missed felony probation-revocation hearing is a Class D felony)
- Class A misdemeanor: Class A misdemeanor
- Class B or C misdemeanor: Class B misdemeanor
- Unclassified misdemeanor: the same penalty as the underlying offense
- Violation: Class C misdemeanor
The offense requires failing to appear “without reasonable excuse,” and it’s up to the defendant to establish the excuse. Courts see missed court dates constantly, and many have real explanations: a missed notice, a medical emergency, confusion about the date. An attorney who addresses the court promptly, ideally with a motion to recall the warrant, can often get the case back on track. If you were out on bond, the missed date can also put the bond itself at risk.
Ark. Code § 5-54-120(b)–(c); Taylor v. State, 2023 Ark. App. 497.
Consequences of an Unresolved Warrant
Leaving a warrant open doesn’t just risk arrest. Depending on the situation, it can also mean:
- a driver’s license suspension in some failure-to-appear situations,
- additional fines and court costs,
- a new failure-to-appear charge if you missed a required court appearance,
- problems with employment or housing applications if it surfaces in a records search,
- arrest during a traffic stop, booking, border crossing, or other contact with law enforcement, and
- complications with bond once you are arrested, since a judge may view an unresolved warrant as bearing on whether you’ll appear.
The Bottom Line
A warrant in Arkansas won’t disappear on its own, and the longer it sits, the more likely it’s served at the worst possible time. An online search can help, but a clean result proves less than people think. The path that protects you is straightforward: find out what you’re actually facing, do it through an attorney who can act on it right away, and resolve the warrant on your terms.
If you think you might have a warrant in Little Rock, Pulaski County, or anywhere in central Arkansas, the safest move is to have it checked and handled before it’s served on you.
Related Reading
Think You Might Have a Warrant?
The safest time to deal with a warrant is before it’s served at a traffic stop or your front door. We can check discreetly, explain what you’re facing, and plan the next step with you.
Updated October 21, 2026
This blog post is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship with Wesley Rhodes, Attorney at Law. If you need legal advice about your specific situation, you should consult with a qualified criminal defense attorney.