Ouachita County Court Records Lookup

The following is for information purposes only

Ouachita County is located in the south-central axis of Arkansas. It is sparsely populated, having a population of a little over 22,60 people, and was named for the Ouachita River; which runs through it. It was created on November 29, 1842, from a portion of Union County. Its largest city is Camden which also serves as the seat of government in the county. The county's judiciary has experienced a transformation over the years and its affairs are executed through the functions of the Circuit and District Courts.

Ouachita Circuit Court is located in Camden with jurisdiction over all cases in the county. It serves as a court of trial holding bench trials. It presides over civil disputes, contract disputes, eviction, felony criminal, child support, divorce, domestic relations, juvenile, probate, and child custody cases. The District Courts were formerly known as Municipal Courts, they hear minor criminal and civil cases. They have jurisdiction over misdemeanors, traffic cases, and civil cases (in which the amount of money involved is $25,000 or less), and hold felony preliminary hearings. Additionally, there is a small claims division in a District Court that hears general civil claims for less than $5000. Ouachita County District Court Bearden, Ouachita County District Court Camden, Ouachita County District Court Chidester, Ouachita County District Court East Camden, and Ouachita County District Court Stephens are the District Courts of Ouachita County.

In the Arkansas Judiciary Report 2021, statewide circuit courts filed 158,442 cases and disposed 135,178 of those cases. The District Courts that same year worked on 847,082 cases and terminated 776,586 cases. Court records are stored and maintained online in a system called CourtConnect by Contexte. Filings, parties, and events from both circuit courts and district courts are available on this website thereby enhancing immediate recovery of court records. The custodian of court records is the circuit court clerk. The Arkansas Judiciary Case Search/ARCourts website is a lookup tool to search for court records. Adoption records are kept from the public (only available to the adoptee and birth parents). Also, records related to juvenile delinquency are obtainable by valid court orders to juveniles but are expunged when a child reaches age 21. These records are not accessible to the public.

Judicial best practices and resources to better serve the people are employed on a day-to-day basis. In addition, equal access to justice in all cases is granted to residents. Ouachita County Circuit and District Courts continue to improve technology, its accessibility, efficiency, and productivity in the judicial system.