BODY ATTACHMENTS-What does this mean?

Body Attachments are court orders usually issued in child support enforcement actions. They are very similiar to warrants of arrest that are issued in criminal cases.

A Body Attachment orders and directs law enforcement officers to seize the body of the person named in the order and hold that person in custody pending further orders of the court.

Most Body Attachments (but not all) will have language indicating that the person can be released from custody if a prescribed cash amount is paid to secure his release. This amount may or may not equal the total of delinquent child support payments. Other Body Attachments will require the person to remain in custody until brought before the Judge who issued the order. Body Attachments can be served in any part of the State, just as arrest warrants can.

Any monies that the Sheriff's Office collects from Body Attachment actions will be held and distributed as later directed by the court or as prescribed under the law.

CONCEALED HANDGUN LICENSE - How do I obtain a concealed carry license for a handgun?

All testing and processing for the Concealed Carry Handgun Licenses is done by the Arkansas State Police. The Sheriff's Office has no role in that process. Specific information on the process, as well as the names and phone numbers of instructors in St. Francis County, can be found at the Arkansas State Police website www.asp.state.ar.us .

Criminal Background Checks - General: The Sheriff's Office may provide certain information to the public that is available for public disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. This would include information from the Sheriff's Office Records Management System on Incident/Offense Reports, Accident Reports, Jail Booking Records, Warrant Records, Civil Process Records, Citations, and Dispatch Logs/Complaint Cards. Exceptions would be for records relating to active/ongoing investigations, certain personnel records, records that have been sealed/expunged by court order, and records involving juvenile offenders or juvenile suspects. There are nominal fees associated with processing these requests. The Sheriff's Office is prohibited by law from providing criminal history or background information of any kind from the Arkansas Crime Information Center database or the National Crime Information Center database. In addition, we cannot provide information relating to records maintained by any other law enforcement agency. You would need to contact those agencies directly for information from their records.

The Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau in Little Rock can provide a more thorough criminal history check that encompasses all jurisdictions in Arkansas. Information on their procedures can be found on the Arkansas State Police web site at www.asp.state.ar.us

Background Checks for HUD Housing Applicants: If someone needs a background check conducted for HUD Housing, the paperwork should be taken to the Administration Offices during normal business hours and dropped off. The completed forms can usually be picked up after 10:00 AM on the next business day.

Eviction Procedures: While there may be other reasons for a landlord or property owner wanting to evict a tenant, the ONLY circumstances that the Sheriff's Office can become involved in under the law is Eviction for Non-Payment of rent. All other types of evictions for all other reasons must be handled through an attorney in civil court. For cases of non-payment of rent, the renter/tenant must be served in person either by the landlord or by a Sheriff's Deputy ($50.00 charge) with an Eviction Notice. This notice will give the renter/tenant ten (10) days from the day of service to vacate the premises. If this does not occur, a Sheriff's Deputy will be assigned to issue the renter/tenant a Citation to Appear in District Court for the criminal offense of Failure to Vacate/Failure to Pay Rent, which is a misdemeanor. Any further proceedings would be only by direction of the District Court Judge.

Fingerprints: The Sheriff’s Office will fingerprint persons upon request as part of pre-employment criminal history background checks.  All finger print is done at the St. Francis county jail. 

Missing Person reports are separated into two general categories:

Missing/Runaway Juveniles:  The parent or guardian of any juvenile (under 18 years of age) may file a missing person-runaway juvenile report at any time.  These reports will be immediately entered into the NCIC/ACIC law enforcement database, which would serve to alert any officer from any jurisdiction having contact with the juvenile that he or she is listed as missing or a runaway.  Radio notification will be made to all officers on duty.  Deputies will also follow-up on any leads provided by the parent/guardian as to the possible location of the juvenile. 

Missing Adults:  Any person eighteen (18) years of age or older is considered to be an adult with full freedom of movement and liberty.  Exceptions would include persons 18 years of age or older who remain under the legal guardianship of another adult or protective services.  Deputies will take reports of missing adults at any time.  The extent of any follow-up will depend upon the circumstances of the disappearance.  For example, if evidence indicated that the missing person was endangered or may have been forcibly abducted, deputies would immediately begin follow-up on leads.  If the missing person simply has not been seen recently but no evidence of foul play was found to exist, then our options and responsibilities in those cases are limited under the law and department policy. 

Convicted Sex Offenders are required by law to register with law enforcement. The St. Francis County Sheriff's Office is the law enforcement agency that handles the registration process of all Sex Offenders who reside in St. Francis County.

There are four (4) levels of Sex Offenders under Arkansas Law. The levels represent the likelihood the Offender will re-offend.

Level 1 - Least likely to re-offend
Level 2 - Moderate risk to re-offend
Level 3 - High Risk to re-offend
Level 4 - Sexually Violent Predator

A convicted Sex Offender, who is assigned a risk level of 1, 2, or 3, is required to come in to the Sheriff's Office every 6 months to re-register. A level 4 Sex Offender is required to come in every 3 months to re-register.

When a Sex Offender moves into the State of Arkansas, they are required to be evaluated before they are assigned a risk level. This process sometimes will take several months before the State assigns a risk level. Law Enforcement is not allowed to notify the public UNTIL a risk level has been assigned by the State of Arkansas.

Only in cases of an EMERGENCY, such as a small child being locked inside a vehicle, can the Sheriff's Office send someone to assist with gaining entry to your personal vehicle.  Our deputies do not carry any unlocking tools in their patrol cars, and potential liability for property damage will not allow us to unlock personal vehicles. 

In non-emergency cases, you would need to call a professional locksmith to assist in gaining entry into your vehicle.

The Sheriff's Office maintains thousands of Warrants of Arrest issued by the District Court and Circuit Court. All of these warrants constitute public records under the Freedom of Information Act. Any person can obtain information on arrest warrants pertaining to himself or herself or any other person by placing phone call to the Sheriff's Office. Such information as the date of the warrant, charge(s)specified on the warrant, bond amount, and issuing court can be provided.

Many arrest warrants are served by deputies working in the field, either during vehicle stops or by visiting the last known home address or work address of the person named in the warrant. Other warrants are served when people voluntarily surrender themselves to the Sheriff's Office after learning a warrant exists for their arrest.

Most warrants will have a bond specified by the court that a person in custody is required to post before being released. Other warrants are "No Bond" warrants, and the person must remain in custody until appearing before a Judge for further proceedings.

On those warrants that have a bond amount specified, the Sheriff's Office will accept either cash for the bond or a surety bond issued by a professional licensed bail bonding company. The Sheriff's Office generally will not accept or approve an O/R Bond (release on own recognizance) or a property bond.

Misdemeanor arrest warrants may be served anywhere in the State of Arkansas. Felony arrest warrants are extraditable from anywhere within the United States. The Sheriff's Office is very aggressive in serving arrest warrants, and extradition will generally be authorized whenever we are notified a person is in custody in another jurisdiction on a St. Francis County warrant.

Any person wanting information about an arrest warrant or how to take care of an active warrant should contact the Sheriff's Office. We will make every effort to make a reasonable accommodation to allow the person satisfy the warrant within the boundaries of the law and department policy.