Crawford County, AR Courts and Public Records

The Crawford County Circuit Court and District Court in Van Buren serve as the county's trial courts. The Circuit Court handles felonies, civil cases, domestic relations, juvenile, and probate matters, while the District Court handles misdemeanors, traffic, local ordinance, small claims, and civil cases.

Have the full name, case number if you know it, and approximate dates ready before you search. Crawford County circuit court records are kept by the Circuit Clerk in Van Buren.

County-level filings are not published in a downloadable form, so this section reports Arkansas statewide trial court caseload for CY 2024. Crawford County is served by the Twenty-First Judicial Circuit, which has 3 circuit judges, and its Circuit Clerk keeps the circuit court records.

Statewide circuit court filings in Arkansas rose from 158,442 in CY 2021 to 184,611 in CY 2024. CY 2021 figures are from the 2021 annual report.

Total statewide circuit filings grew 16.5% over the period, from 158,442 to 184,611. The largest increase was in civil filings, up 21,487 cases (+64.5%), which made up 82.1% of the net increase. Criminal filings were the only category that declined, down 2,325 cases (-4.7%). Juvenile filings rose 17.4% and domestic relations filings rose 6.4%, so growth was not limited to civil cases.

Statewide, civil is the largest circuit category at 29.7% of CY 2024 circuit filings, and traffic violations are the largest district category at 30.1% of district filings.

Civil filings grew fastest between CY 2021 and CY 2024 (64.5%), while criminal filings fell (-4.7%).

County-level court filings are not published, so this section compares Crawford County's 2025 reported crime with Arkansas reporting-agency rates per 100K residents covered. The county's agencies reported 164 violent offenses, or 1.0% of the statewide total from reporting agencies.

The county's violent crime rate of ~264.0 is 51.7% below state the state reporting-agency rate of ~546.3, and its property crime rate of ~1,482.4 is 24.4% below state the state rate of ~1,962.1. Rates describe reported offenses per 100K residents covered by reporting agencies, not a full count of every resident.

These figures cover offenses reported by all law enforcement agencies in Crawford County, including Van Buren PD and Crawford County SO, as published by the Arkansas Crime Information Center. Total reported violent and property offenses fell 10.2% from 1,208 in 2024 to 1,085 in 2025. Figures marked with ~ are estimates based on the other years shown for this county.

Statewide reporting-agency rates in 2025 were ~546.3 violent and ~1,962.1 property per 100K, so the county's violent rate is 51.7% below state and its property rate is 24.4% below state.

The directory lists 2 office addresses in Van Buren, covering the Circuit Clerk, County Judge, and County Clerk offices. Check your notice or ticket for the division and courtroom before you go.

Crawford County traffic and misdemeanor cases start in District Court, while felonies, larger civil claims, and domestic relations matters are heard in the Twenty-First Judicial Circuit Circuit Court. Federal cases are heard in the U.S. District Court for Arkansas, not in this county court.

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

Public records

Most circuit and district court case records in Crawford County are open to the public under Administrative Order 19, including dockets and filings that the order does not restrict.

Restricted or confidential records

Juvenile, sealed, and confidential records are restricted under the rules and are not available to the general public. Access to these records depends on the rule or court order that applies.

Online access

Use Search ARCourts to look up case information in the statewide CourtConnect portal. Online results show case information, not every document, and they may not include every restricted case. Traffic payments are made separately at pay.arcourts.gov.

In-person access

Visit the Circuit Clerk at 317 Main Street, Van Buren, AR 72956, or call 479-474-1821 Opt. 2&4 to confirm which office holds your case.

Use the official Arkansas portals to search Crawford County cases by case type, and ask the Circuit Clerk for documents that are not available online.

1. Identify the case type, such as criminal, traffic, civil, small claims, family law, probate, or juvenile.
2. Open Search ARCourts for circuit and district court case information.
3. Search by party name or case number and note the case number from the results.
4. Review the case details, including status, parties, and scheduled dates.
5. Contact the Circuit Clerk at 479-474-1821 Opt. 2&4 to request documents that are not available online.

Crawford County traffic tickets can be paid online where the court participates, or in person or by mail to the court that issued the citation.

1. Online: Pay traffic tickets at pay.arcourts.gov where the court participates. Confirm the court and case number on your citation before paying.
2. In person or by mail: Contact the court that issued the citation, or the Circuit Clerk at 479-474-1821 Opt. 2&4, for payment instructions. Bring your citation or case number.

Parking tickets are paid to the citing city or agency, and municipal and local ordinance tickets go to the city's district court.