Searching Montgomery County Criminal Dockets
Search ARCourts is the public entry point for Montgomery County criminal docket information. Use the participant search without a case number. Enter the legal name used in court. Then narrow the results by Montgomery County, court location, date range, and criminal case type. An exact case number is stronger. It points to one court file and separates people with similar names.
The court label matters. Montgomery County Circuit Court holds the felonies. The Montgomery County Circuit Clerk keeps those files. Misdemeanors and minor criminal matters belong to the Mount Ida District Court clerk. Search both levels only when the charge or filing court is uncertain. Then read the complete result, not a one-line hit.
- Open Search ARCourts and select a case-number or participant route.
- Set the county and court location before trusting a common-name match.
- Open the full case and compare its case number, court, type, and filing date.
- Read Offenses, Events, Sentences, and Docket Entries together.
- Call the proper clerk for a missing document, current setting, or certified copy.
Montgomery County Criminal Docket Labels
A criminal docket search can fail even with the right name. The wrong court is usually the cause. Montgomery County Circuit Court handles the felonies. It is the general-jurisdiction court for the county. The 24th State District Court, Mount Ida Department, keeps misdemeanor, violation, and traffic matters within its limited jurisdiction. A federal prosecution sits outside both systems and never appears in Search ARCourts.
| Matter | Record Custodian | Search Route |
|---|---|---|
| Felony prosecution | Montgomery County Circuit Clerk | Search ARCourts, then Circuit Clerk |
| Misdemeanor or violation | Mount Ida District Court clerk | Search ARCourts, then District Clerk |
| Federal criminal case | Western District of Arkansas clerk | PACER or federal CM/ECF |
The Arkansas Judiciary circuit judge directory lists Montgomery County within the Eighteenth West Judicial Circuit. The directory itself shows each circuit judge assignment.
Placing the local felony docket in its actual circuit keeps a Montgomery County filing distinct from a district or federal case. The circuit label confirms it.
Inside a Montgomery County Criminal Docket
A Montgomery County criminal docket is a layered record. The Case Summary identifies the file. Participants list the judge, State, prosecutor, defendant, counsel, and other recorded roles. Offenses show each charge with its statute or class, plea, and count-level result. Events describe hearings. Docket Entries record filings and other entered activity. A Documents cell may be blank, marked “WEB,” or carry another label, and a blank never means no filing exists.
| Case number | Exact court identifier, often with a criminal prefix such as 49CR; preserve all punctuation shown. |
|---|---|
| Offenses | Separate counts, descriptions, classifications, pleas, and dispositions where entered. |
| Events | Date, time, room, location, setting type, and judge when published. |
| Sentences | Sentence type, length, linked offense, and probation details where public. |
| Docket entries | Filing timestamp, description, detail, actor field, and document availability. |
| Status | Current system status, which must be read with the actual count dispositions. |
A charge is an accusation. A bond entry concerns release. “Case closed” is a system status, not proof that every count was dismissed. Read the field that answers your question.
Montgomery County Criminal Docket Results
One case can hold several offenses. Each count may reach a different result. One can be dismissed, another can end in a plea, and a third may remain open. Search ARCourts provides separate offense and disposition fields for this reason. Match the disposition to its count first.
- Nolle prosequi
- The prosecution formally elects not to proceed on that charge under Arkansas procedure. It is not an acquittal label.
- Dismissal
- A case or count ends without the requested adjudication. The entry and order supply the exact basis.
- Acquittal
- A not-guilty result after the matter is decided.
- Guilty or nolo plea
- A plea-based result. Read the linked sentence and order for the full outcome.
- Disposition
- The recorded resolution of a case or individual charge.
Arkansas court records use standard outcome categories. A local docket may spell them out differently. Montgomery County publishes no abbreviation sheet, so read entries as written and never import codes from another state or county.
How a Criminal Case Moves
A Montgomery County criminal docket grows in time order. A complaint, citation, information, or indictment begins or frames the prosecution. Then come appearance, counsel, bond, and arraignment entries. Motions, discovery filings, continuances, and orders trace the path toward a plea or trial. Keep requests apart from rulings. A filed motion only asks the judge to act.
Docket flow: Filing › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
Sentence and probation entries may follow a conviction or plea. Appeal entries point to a separate appellate docket. When you need exact proof, request the judgment or sentencing order from the Circuit Clerk. The chronological docket is an index to that document. It is not a replacement.
Montgomery County Criminal Docket Tabs
The Search ARCourts tabs answer different questions. Events help locate a plea, arraignment, motion hearing, trial, or sentence setting. Offenses organize charges and results by count. Sentences connect punishment terms to offenses where the court publishes them. Docket Entries show filings and court actions in order. Milestone Tracks can show due dates, changed due dates, and filing dates when used.
A common mistake is reading the newest line as the whole outcome. Follow the charge into its disposition first. Then check for a sentence and appeal activity. If an entry says a document was filed but no image opens, call the clerk with the case number, exact entry date, and document title. That gives staff a precise request.
For a wider name or number workflow, the Montgomery County Case Lookup page shows how search fields and filters narrow statewide results.
Courts That Hold Criminal Dockets
Felony dockets live with Circuit Clerk Regina Powell. Her office sits at 105 Highway 270 East, Suite 10, Mount Ida, Arkansas 71957. The phone is 870-867-3521. Call her staff for filed criminal documents, certified copies, older records, or any public-access question. The directory lists no public terminal. Ring ahead before you drive over if you need one.
Misdemeanor-level work belongs to District Court. Chief Clerk Crystal Carlton runs that office. It sits in Suite 2 at the same highway address, reachable at 870-867-2221. You can request the criminal docket in person. Mail works too, once you confirm the price and payment. Fax is an option as well, after the office confirms it accepts that method. The Circuit Clerk fax is 870-867-2177; the District Clerk fax is 870-867-3695.
Montgomery County Drug Court Docket
Drug Court is not a stand-alone docket you can pull up on its own portal. It runs inside the underlying criminal case. The Eighteenth West administrative plan puts the program at 225 Fairgrounds Road in Mount Ida, and it is post-adjudication: a participant pleads guilty or no contest, gets supervised Arkansas Community Correction probation, and signs a program agreement.
Expect a $600 program fee under the local plan. Phase 1 cases come up for review twice each month. The upper phases are reviewed monthly. Search ARCourts can display ordinary events in the base case, though treatment assessments and team staffing are not fair to treat as public. For the filed record, the Circuit Clerk still stands as the source.
Montgomery County Criminal Docket Boundaries
A federal prosecution in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas never lands on a Montgomery County criminal docket. Those cases run through federal CM/ECF and PACER instead. For an official federal picture, the Western District U.S. Attorney page shows how that separate system presents itself.
The federal system stands apart. State Circuit and District searches belong in Search ARCourts, while federal case records demand the federal docket channel.
Sealed Dockets and Public Access
Public access to a Montgomery County criminal docket is wide but not total. Search ARCourts leaves out confidential information. A sealed case, a protected document, or sensitive fields may be suppressed entirely. Juvenile matters stay private. Protected identifiers stay private too. So does anything made confidential by law or court order, no matter how searchable other court activity is. Remember that a blank result proves nothing about whether a case exists.
Arkansas access rules:
Administrative Order 19 governs public access and excludes specified court records and data.
Arkansas Code Title 9 includes confidentiality rules for specified juvenile and adoption matters.
The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act does not displace the court-specific rules that govern judicial case files.
Missing Montgomery County record? Check the spelling first. Then check the year, court, and case number. Next, ask the clerk's office whether the period is online or whether access is restricted. Be ready to show identity and authority if you are a party. No clerk can hand over sealed content without a lawful basis or court order.