Cleveland County, AR Courts and Public Records

The Cleveland County Circuit Court in Rison serves as the county's trial court for felony, civil, domestic relations, juvenile, and probate cases in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. District Court handles misdemeanors, traffic, local ordinance, small claims, and civil matters.

Have the person's full name, the case number if you know it, and the approximate dates ready before you search. Cleveland County circuit records are kept by the Circuit Clerk in Rison.

Cleveland County sits in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, which has 6 circuit judges and a Circuit Clerk in Rison. County-level filings are not published in a downloadable form, so the figures below are Arkansas statewide totals for CY 2024.

Statewide circuit court filings in Arkansas are shown for CY 2021 and CY 2024, with the CY 2021 figures taken from the 2021 annual report.

Statewide circuit filings rose 16.5% from 158,442 in CY 2021 to 184,611 in CY 2024, while dispositions rose from 135,178 to 180,614. Civil filings had the largest increase at 64.5%, or 21,487 more cases, and criminal filings were the only category to fall, down 4.7%. Juvenile filings rose 17.4% and domestic relations filings rose 6.4%.

Civil cases are the largest statewide circuit category at 29.7% of the 184,611 circuit filings in CY 2024, and traffic violations are the largest district category at 30.1% of 942,381 district filings.

Among circuit categories, civil cases grew fastest at 64.5% since CY 2021, while criminal cases fell 4.7%.

Verified county-level crime totals for Cleveland County are not available in the data used for this page, so no county-to-state rate comparison is shown.

For reference, Arkansas reporting agencies recorded ~546.3 violent and ~1,962.1 property crimes per 100K residents covered in 2025.

These figures are Arkansas statewide totals as reported to the FBI, not counts for Cleveland County. Agency reporting may be incomplete, and county crime counts are not available here. Statewide violent and property crimes combined fell 13.2% from 2024 to 2025. In 2025, reporting agencies covered about 98.3% of Arkansas's population, so year-over-year changes can partly reflect which agencies reported.

Rates use the Arkansas 2025 population of 3,114,791. County-level rates are not published, so this section does not compare Cleveland County with the state. The property crimes total includes arson, so it is larger than the sum of the property offenses listed above.

Cleveland County has 2 listed court office locations in Rison. Check the office handling your case on your citation or notice, and confirm locations in the Circuit Clerks directory.

Arkansas divides cases between the Circuit Court and the District Court, and the Circuit Clerk in Rison keeps Cleveland County circuit court records. Federal cases are heard in the U.S. District Court for Arkansas.

Yes, most Cleveland County court records are public, with exceptions set by Arkansas Supreme Court Administrative Order 19 (Access to Court Records).

Public records

Most circuit court case files, including dockets, filings, and orders in criminal, civil, domestic relations, and probate cases, are open to the public, subject to the exceptions below.

Restricted or confidential records

Juvenile, sealed, and confidential records are restricted and are not available without the authority the court's rules or an order provides.

Online access

Use Search ARCourts to look up circuit court case information online. Online results show case information rather than every document, and restricted cases are not shown.

In-person access

Visit the Circuit Clerk in Rison to view or request records, or call 870-325-6521 to confirm which office holds your case.

Fees

This page does not list copy or certification fees. Ask the Circuit Clerk at 870-325-6521 for the fee for the records you need.

Use the official Arkansas court search to find Cleveland County circuit court cases by case type, and ask the Circuit Clerk for documents that are not online.

1. Identify the case type, such as criminal, traffic, civil, small claims, family law, probate, or juvenile.
2. Open Search ARCourts for court case information, or visit arcourts.gov for the court website and directories.
3. Search by party name or case number, and note the case number from the results.
4. Review the case details for status, parties, and scheduled dates.
5. Contact the Circuit Clerk at 870-325-6521 to request documents that are not online.

Traffic citations in Cleveland County are paid to the court that issued them, and online payment is available only where that court participates.

1. Online: Pay traffic tickets at pay.arcourts.gov where the court participates. Limit: available only for participating courts.
2. In person: Pay at the Circuit Clerk office at Rison, AR 71665 (P.O. Box 368). Limit: call 870-325-6521 to confirm the office handles your citation.
3. By mail: Send payment with your citation or case number to the court that issued the citation, after confirming the address with the Circuit Clerk at 870-325-6521. Limit: confirm mailing details before sending.

Parking tickets are handled by the city or agency that issued them, not by the circuit clerk. Municipal and local ordinance tickets go to the city's district court.