Scott County Inmate Population Overview
The most useful way to read the Scott County inmate population is by custody system. The Scott County Sheriff's Office operates the local jail function, which covers people arrested in the county, people awaiting court, sentenced misdemeanants, and people held on warrants or local holds. The county website names Sheriff Randy Shores and lists the sheriff phone and fax, but it does not publish a jail division page, online roster, daily booking log, or current population dashboard.
That gap changes the search path. Current county jail status starts with the sheriff's office and the courthouse counter. Formal charges after booking are searched through Search ARCourts or the clerk. Sentenced prisoners from Scott County move into the Arkansas DOC inmate search, including statuses shown in the research as Scott Co.309/Work and Scott County Waiting List. Federal and immigration custody use separate federal locators.
Scott County Inmate Population Statistics
The strongest county-level jail figures in the research come from the Vera Institute Incarceration Trends county dataset, which draws from standardized jail data. The research did not locate a current sheriff-published 2026 jail count, so the statistics below are reported as historical jail data, not a live count. Vera's 2019 Scott County entry reported 31 people in jail against a rated capacity of 70 beds, with 235 annual jail admissions and a jail population rate of 519.96 per 100,000 residents ages 15 to 64.
| Measure | Figure | Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Total jail population | 31 | Vera Incarceration Trends, 2019 |
| Rated jail capacity | 70 beds | Vera Incarceration Trends, 2013-2019 entries |
| Annual jail admits | 235 | Vera Incarceration Trends, 2019 |
| Annual jail discharges | 234.5 | Vera Incarceration Trends, 2019 |
| Jail population rate | 519.96 per 100,000 age 15-64 residents | Vera Incarceration Trends, 2019 |
The Vera county CSV is useful for scale and trend checks. It should not be read as a current jail roster or proof that a specific person is in custody today.
Scott County Inmate Population Trends
Scott County's reported jail figures moved sharply across the decade. The 2019 and 2018 entries were close to each other, each below half of the 70-bed rated capacity. Earlier entries show two large spikes in 2013 and 2014, followed by a steep drop in 2015. The research flags those older values for careful treatment because county jail datasets can reflect contract boarding, state holds, reporting differences, or other local conditions that are not explained by the county website.
| Year | Total Jail Population | Rated Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 31 | 70 | 29 pretrial and 2 sentenced people reported. |
| 2018 | 30 | 70 | 29 pretrial and 1 sentenced person reported. |
| 2017 | 3 | 70 | Outlier low entry in the county series. |
| 2016 | 28 | 70 | 9 pretrial and 19 sentenced people reported. |
| 2015 | 27 | 70 | 267.5 annual admissions reported. |
| 2014 | 118 | 70 | Above capacity as reported; interpret with caution. |
| 2013 | 209 | 70 | Very high reported value, likely affected by reporting context. |
Who Is in Scott County Jail
Vera's 2019 Scott County data shows a local jail population dominated by pretrial custody. That means most people counted in the jail population had not yet reached final case disposition. The same entry reported 25 male detainees and 5 female detainees. Race and ethnicity entries included 27 White people, 1 Black person, 1 Latinx person, and 1 AAPI person. Those figures are historical, but they help explain why a jail population search must include both court and sheriff channels.
- Pretrial custody: 29 of the 31 people reported in 2019 were listed as pretrial.
- Sentenced custody: 2 people were listed as sentenced jail custody in 2019.
- Transfers and holds: Vera also reported jail-from-prison, jail-from-other-jail, and jail-from-BOP categories.
- State-linked statuses: Arkansas DOC search options include Scott Co.309/Work and Scott County Waiting List.
Note: A jail population figure is a count. It is not a name-by-name custody confirmation for a person.
Scott County Jail Capacity
The county site does not publish a current bed count for the Scott County Jail. The research supports a historical rated capacity of 70 beds for 2013 through 2019 from Vera/Incarceration Trends. Against that capacity, the 2019 jail population of 31 was about 44 percent of rated capacity, and the 2018 population of 30 was about 43 percent. By contrast, the 2014 and 2013 reported figures were far above capacity, but no official local order, construction page, or litigation source was found to explain those spikes.
The practical point for a Scott County inmate search is simpler than the trend line. A current custody question must be confirmed with the jail or sheriff. Population data explains scale and trends, while the sheriff, court clerk, DOC, and federal locators answer individual custody questions.
Laws for Scott County Jail Records
Arkansas law gives the public a path to many records held by local government, but it does not make every law-enforcement data system public. Scott County jail records may be requested from the sheriff's office under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, while sealed cases, juvenile records, medical information, active-investigation details, security data, and restricted criminal-history database records may be withheld or redacted.
Key record rules:
Ark. Code Ann. 25-19-105 is the Arkansas FOIA public-records access section used for local booking records and jail logs unless an exemption applies.
Ark. Code Ann. 12-12-211 limits ACIC/NCIC criminal-justice information to authorized users, so it is not a public jail roster.
Ark. Code Ann. 16-90-1401 et seq. governs Arkansas criminal record sealing under the Comprehensive Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2013.
Arkansas Criminal Detention Facility Standards set statewide jail standards for intake, housing, inspection, documentation, and accessibility.
Search Scott County Inmate Population
Scott County does not appear to publish an official online jail roster from the county or sheriff website. The county jail lookup process is therefore a fallback chain, not a single roster search. Start with the Scott County Sheriff's Office for live custody, then move to court and state systems depending on the case stage. For custody history and formal records, a written request may be needed.
- Call the Scott County Sheriff's Office at (479) 637-4156 and ask for current custody or booking information.
- Use the courthouse/sheriff counter at 190 W. 1st St., Waldron, AR 72958 during posted county hours if an in-person request is needed.
- Search Search ARCourts for filed criminal cases, court dates, and charge status after booking.
- Search the Arkansas DOC locator for sentenced prisoners and Scott County waiting-list or 309/work statuses.
- Use VINELink Arkansas for custody notification when the person is in a covered system.
- Use BOP or ICE ODLS only when federal or immigration custody is possible.
Scott County DOC Search Fields
The Arkansas DOC inmate locator is not the Scott County jail roster. It is still important because sentenced people from Scott County may leave local jail custody or appear in DOC as waiting-list or 309/work status. The research inspected the DOC form and found a broad search interface with a required disclaimer checkbox.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADC Number | Text | No | Best for exact state DOC number searches. |
| County | Dropdown | No | Scott County appears with value 564 in the inspected query. |
| Last Name / First Name | Text | No | Useful when the DOC number is not known. |
| Facility | Dropdown | No | Includes Scott Co.309/Work and Scott County Waiting List. |
| Gender, offense, age, race | Filters | No | Filters can narrow broad statewide results. |
| Disclaimer | Checkbox | Yes | The form will not run until the user agrees to the disclaimer. |
The Arkansas DOC inmate search form is shown in the captured source image below.
What Scott County Inmate Records Show
A county booking record and a DOC profile answer different questions. A Scott County booking record, when released by the sheriff, may identify a person, booking date, arresting agency, booking charge, bond, release status, hold, warrant, case number, or booking photo if the record is public and nonexempt. The county does not expose those fields online in an official roster, so they should be requested rather than assumed.
DOC profiles are more detailed for state custody. The research inspected a DOC profile tied to a Scott County case and found a public photo, ADC number, race, sex, physical descriptors, birth date, initial receipt date, facility/status, custody classification, good-time class, PE/TE date, sentence history, detainers, risk levels, program achievements, probation/SIS data, VINE link, print button, and trust or phone deposit links.
- Booking
- The jail intake event after arrest, including identity, charge, property, photo, and custody paperwork.
- Detainer
- A hold or notice from another agency that may block release even when local bond is posted.
- 309/work status
- An Arkansas state-custody label connected to local county work or custody arrangements.
- PE/TE date
- A parole or transfer eligibility date shown in Arkansas DOC profiles.
County Jail vs State Prison
The main Scott County inmate population search mistake is using the wrong system for the custody stage. A new arrest starts with local jail and sheriff information. Once the prosecutor files charges, the case appears through Arkansas court records. If a person is sentenced to the Arkansas Division of Correction, the DOC locator becomes the better search tool.
| Custody Type | Where to Look | What It Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Current county jail custody | Scott County Sheriff's Office | Pretrial detainees, short sentences, local holds, warrants, release status. |
| Formal charges and court dates | Search ARCourts and Scott County clerks | Filed cases, charge status, hearings, dispositions, warrants tied to a case. |
| Sentenced state custody | Arkansas DOC locator | DOC profiles, sentence history, facility/status, photos, detainers, PE/TE dates. |
| Federal custody | BOP or U.S. Marshals channels | Sentenced federal inmates or federal pretrial custody routing. |
| Immigration custody | ICE ODLS | Immigration detainee lookup by A-number/country or biographical fields. |
Scott County Detention Facility
The facility map resolves to one local detention facility page: Scott County Jail. The official county site does not support separate pages for a city jail, annex, work-release building, state prison, BOP facility, or ICE facility in Scott County. The DOC dropdown labels for Scott Co.309/Work and Scott County Waiting List should be treated as state-custody statuses, not separate public buildings.
- Scott County Jail is the county jail function operated by the Scott County Sheriff's Office in Waldron for local arrests, pretrial custody, sentenced misdemeanants, warrants, and some state-linked custody statuses.
Scott County Sheriff and Courts
The county's official web pages put jail, sheriff, and court business around the courthouse complex. The Scott County homepage lists the courthouse address and public hours. The sheriff page gives the main sheriff phone. The Circuit Clerk page explains that the clerk maintains civil, criminal, and juvenile circuit court records.
Scott County Sheriff's Office
190 W. 1st St.
Waldron, AR 72958
(479) 637-4156
County hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Scott County Circuit Clerk
190 W. First St., Box 10
Waldron, AR 72958
(479) 637-2642
Criminal, civil, and juvenile circuit court records.
Scott County Inmate Population FAQ
Does Scott County publish an online inmate roster? No official county or sheriff roster was located in the research. Use the sheriff phone or courthouse counter for current jail custody, then use Search ARCourts and DOC when the custody stage changes.
How large is the Scott County inmate population? The latest high-authority county jail population found in the research is Vera's 2019 figure of 31 people. The research did not find a current sheriff-published 2026 count.
Can released Scott County inmates be found online? Not through a county roster found in official sources. Past booking records may require a written Arkansas FOIA request to the sheriff, while filed cases are searched through Search ARCourts.
Where are Scott County state prisoners searched? Use Arkansas DOC. The locator can show state custody, Scott County waiting-list status, sentence history, detainers, photos, and VINE links when available.
Waldron Jail Record Context
Scott County's public records are tied closely to Waldron, the county seat. The county website says the current courthouse was built in 1996 and is the seventh county-government building; three earlier courthouses burned. That matters for searchers because the modern public route is not a large standalone jail portal. It is the sheriff, courts, and clerk network around the courthouse.
The historic Old Scott County Jail at 125 W. 2nd St. appears in National Register data. The National Register asset page is local history, not an operating jail page.
