Sebastian County Courthouse - Room G-6
35 South 6th Street
Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901
Community Service Coordinator's Office:
Sebastian County Courthouse - 2nd Floor Room 201
35 South 6th Street
Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901
City Division Courtroom:
Sebastian County Courthouse - 2nd Floor Room 206
35 South 6th Street
Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901
State Division Courtroom:
Arkansas State Building - Room 100
616 Garrison Avenue
Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901
Phone Directory
Business Office
479-784-2420
Community Service /Alternative Service
479-784-2427
Civil / Small Claims Division
479-784-2377
Financial Administrator
479-784-2429
Judge's Chambers (Judge Ben Beland)
479-784-2427
Judge's Chambers (Judge David Saxon)
479-784-2429
Fax Directory
Business Office
479-784-2438
Community Service Coordinator
479-784-2458
Financial Administrator
479-784-2428
Hours of Operation
Business Hours :
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monday through Friday
Holidays
The Court is closed in observance of the following occasions and holidays:
New Year's Day
Martin Luther King Jr., Day
Presidents Day
Good Friday
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Veteran's Day
Thanksgiving Day and the day after
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
Arkansas District Court Clerk's Conference (twice annually)
Parking
There is metered parking available around the Courthouse and across the street from the convention center. DO NOT park in the parking garage across the street from the Holiday Inn. Citations will be issued to vehicles parked in reserved areas and for overtime parking meters. The Court will not dismiss parking violations for persons appearing in court.
Court Etiquette
The Court’s goal is to provide superior customer service and to create a user-friendly atmosphere. In return, the Court expects all visitors to respect the Court and its staff. Below, are several things you should know before you visit the Court:
It is important that visitors understand the appropriate dress code for the Court. This is a professional setting and you are encouraged to dress accordingly. Visitors should wear clean, fitted clothes. Shirts and shoes are required. Inappropriate attire such as muscle shirts, tank tops, halter tops, shirts with spaghetti straps, shirts that show your midriff, shorts, cut-off jeans, pants that fall below the hip, micro-mini skirts, pants with holes or flip-flop shoes will not be allowed in the courtroom. NOTE: The individual judge sets the dress code for their respective division. Inappropriate dressed visitors will be asked to leave the courtroom immediately, which could result in the issuance of a failure to appear warrant. Hats must be taken off before entering the courtroom.
All cell phones and pagers must be turned off before entering the courtroom or the business office. Any cell phone or pager that sounds during an open court session will be confiscated by the Court and the visitor will be held in contempt of court. NO TOLERANCE!
It is also important to know that smoking, food and drinks are not allowed in the courtroom or business office.
Weapons are strictly prohibited from the building. All weapons will be confiscated and the violator will be appropriately charged.
There are no child care facilities provided by the Court. Children who become noisy will be required to remain outside of the courtroom under adult supervision. This could result in the issuance of a failure to appear warrant if you are not present when your name is called.
Decorum
A court session begins when the court bailiff raps for order. Everyone in the courtroom should rise. The Judge will take his or her place on the bench and the court bailiff will then announce the opening of court. A similar procedure is used when court adjourns. Please be patient and wait for your name to be called. Once you have been summoned to the bench, you may approach the podium before the judge.
Be on time and stay in the courtroom until your name is called.
Everyone is asked to be quiet and respectful when conducting court business. Disruptive behavior such as talking, laughing, shouting or creating other loud disturbances will not be tolerated. The security staff may remove offenders from the building and the judges may hold violators in contempt of court.
Stand with proper posture when you speak and when the judge speaks to you. Address the judge as “Your Honor”.
Do not use slang unless it is a direct quote from the evidence stated as testimony.
Bring pertinent paperwork relevant to your charge(s). Always pass all documents to the court bailiff. Never directly approach the judge’s bench.
If you do not understand a part of the procedure, please ask for an explanation.
Payment Options
District Court accepts the following types of payments:
Cash payments. Outstanding warrants for Contempt Fail to Pay Fines and Failure to Answer Summons must be paid with cash only. No other form of payment is accepted to resolve an outstanding warrant. Restitution payments must also be made with a cash payment.
Personal Checks. Two party checks are not accepted. All checks must be made payable to District Court.
Cashier’s Checks and Money Orders.
Credit Cards. Credit card payments must be payment in full. No partial payments are accepted. Credit card payments are not accepted over the phone. All credit card payments must be made in person, so that the user’s identification can be verified.
If you are mailing your payment to the Court, you will need to provide sufficient information to ensure proper credit of the payment. Please include your citation number, case number or defendant account number. If these numbers are unknown, please make sure that your name, correct address and daytime phone number are included so that you can be contacted with any questions that the Court may have.
Insufficient Checks
Insufficient Checks or Returned Items can be redeemed as follows:
Once you have been contacted by the Court about a returned item, you must immediately redeem the check with cash, money order or cashier’s check. The redemption payment must include the amount of the insufficient or returned check and a $25.00 check fee. If a warrant has been issued on the matter, a $75.00 warrant fee must be paid as well. Bring your redemption payment to the District Court Business Office located in the basement of the Sebastian County Courthouse, Room G-6. You will be unable to present checks to the Court until your privileges have been reinstated by the Court’s Financial Administrator.
Fees
Copy Fees: $.25 per page
Certified Copy Fees: $5.00 per copy
Transcript of Judgement Fees: $5.00 per charge
Appeal Transcript Fees: $5.00 per charge
Insufficient Check Fees: $25.00 per check
Records Checks: $.25 per page
Administrative Time Pay Fee: $5.00 per month (A $5.00 per month fee is assessed on each person who pays court ordered fines/costs through an installment payment plan pursuant to Act 1262 of 1995. The $5.00 fee must be paid upon assessment each month and must be paid in addition to the amount set out in the payment plan. This fee will accrue until the balance is paid in full pursuant to A.C.A. 16-13-704 (b)(1) as amended by HB2511 of 2005.)
Public Access to Records
The District Court records are open to the public for inspection and copying during regular business hours. A request to inspect or copy a judicial record may be verbal or in writing and must include sufficient information to reasonably identify the record requested. The Court is allowed three (3) business days to provide the records being requested. This time is often needed to retrieve files from storage.
A computer terminal is located in the lobby of the District Court Business Office for public use.
Copy fees and transcript fees will be charged for copies and certified copies of the Court’s records.
The court's records are also available online by clicking the "Online Records Search" link located to the left of your screen.
District Court of Sebastian County maintains this Web site in order to increase public access to district court information. The information is not intended to be a source of legal advice. This web site is not sponsored or associated with any other linked entity. The existence of any link is simply intended to make other resources available to the reader. This Court does not guarantee the accuracy or sources of any information found on any such web sites. While the Web site is constantly updated and revised in an effort to provide timely and accurate information, we make no guarantees. We will make every attempt to correct errors as they are brought to our attention.
This Web site contains information originating from other organizations and departments, both public and private. While every attempt is made to ensure that all information is accurately referenced on our site, we do not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness or quality of the content of every source.
Content authored by Rachel Sims, District Court Clerk. Site designed by Laurie Hinton, Senior Deputy Clerk/Webmaster.
If you have any problems navigating this web site, please contact the Webmaster.
