Searching Pulaski County Civil Dockets
Search ARCourts is the public entry point for a Pulaski Circuit civil docket. Have a case number? Use it. Numbers beat names, because common names cause mix-ups. Pick PULASKI CIRCUIT, and add a civil case type or filing year only if the results run wide. Open the matching Case Summary and confirm the court, filing date, case type, parties, and status before you read Docket Entries.
Other routes matter too. Court Clerks takes questions on existing Circuit cases at 501-340-8431. County Records, in Room 103 at 401 West Markham Street, handles copies and certification at 501-340-8766. A District civil or small-claims case belongs with its own District Court clerk. Old files may need archive, paper, or microfilm retrieval.
- Choose participant or case-information search in Search ARCourts.
- Select PULASKI CIRCUIT and enter the name or number.
- Check the case type, parties, status, and filing date.
- Read Case Events and Docket Entries in date order.
- Ask the responsible clerk for an unlinked filing or certified copy.
Pulaski Civil Intake Routes
One clerk office, several jobs. Central Receiving opens new civil, domestic, probate, protection-order, and related Circuit matters in Room 120. Court Clerks answers on existing files. County Records runs the repository and copy counter. Route an existing-case question to new-case intake and you add delay, since the case has already moved past that desk.
Self-represented filers who cannot use eFlex can file in person, which the clerk prefers, or mail a packet by USPS, FedEx, or UPS. A mailed packet with defects or wrong payment may come back by USPS. That stalls the file stamp. Attorneys file electronically through Arkansas eFlex.
Note: Central Receiving creates the Pulaski civil docket; Court Clerks and County Records serve it after assignment.
Inside a Pulaski County Civil Docket
A Pulaski civil register has four parts. These are the Case Summary, participants, future Case Events, and Docket Entries in order of date. Roles label the plaintiff, defendant, judge, and attorneys. Filings and orders can appear even when the Case Events block reads “No Events.” A WEB marker signals a public image link. The word “None” means the entry is visible but has no linked image.
| Case Number | A Circuit civil identifier in the format 60CV-YY-sequence. |
|---|---|
| Parties | Plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, and attorneys by role. |
| Filings | Complaint or petition, answer, motion, notice, order, judgment, and writ entries. |
| Events | Date, time, courtroom, location, judge, and setting type. |
| Documents | WEB for an available public image; None when no link is displayed. |
The public docket is not the whole litigation file. Discovery passed between parties stays out of the court record unless someone files it.
Pulaski Civil Filing Codes
The earliest Pulaski County civil docket entries are intake markers. Look for MOF ORIGINAL, AOC COVERSHEET CIVIL, and COMPLAINT/PETITION FILED with a dollar figure. Those reflect fees and opening activity. SUMMONS ISSUED records that process went out. It does not mean service happened. ENTRY OF APPEARANCE and ANSWER FILED show a response from counsel or a party.
- MOF ORIGINAL
- Local system shorthand tied to the original filing method or intake event.
- AOC coversheet
- Administrative Office of the Courts civil case metadata submitted at filing.
- Summons issued
- The clerk issued process. Completed service requires its own proof or return.
- Register of judgments
- An entry recording a judgment for enforcement after the merits stage.
Later entries like WRIT OTHER ISSUED, execution, or garnishment are enforcement moves. They are not fresh rulings on the original dispute.
Civil Case Types on the Docket
Pulaski Circuit Court has general jurisdiction, with civil, probate, domestic-relations, protection-order, appeal, and other special-proceeding dockets. District Courts hear limited civil contract and property claims up to $25,000, plus small claims up to $5,000, per the Arkansas Judiciary description. The court level decides the clerk, the number, the search coverage, and the appeal path.
- General civil claims, including contract, tort, and property disputes
- Domestic-relations matters where the public record is not restricted
- Probate and estate proceedings
- Protection-order and special proceedings
- District civil and small-claims matters within lower-court limits
A city or county District Court docket stays apart from a Pulaski Circuit docket. Only a valid appeal or transfer creates a new Circuit case.
Pulaski Civil Court Limits
No single search covers every civil matter, because venue is split. A substantial general civil claim goes to Pulaski Circuit Court. A smaller contract or property claim may sit in District Court. Small claims have their own lower limit. For a local example, North Little Rock First Division posts a civil and small-claims calendar. It appears on the second Tuesday.
| Court | Civil Docket | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Pulaski Circuit | General civil, probate, domestic, protection orders, appeals | Search ARCourts; Circuit clerk offices |
| Pulaski County District | Limited civil and small claims | District civil line, 501-340-6830 |
| City District Courts | Assigned limited civil and small claims | Named city District Court clerk |
A District civil appeal goes to Circuit Court de novo, meaning heard anew, under District Court Rule 9. The window is generally 30 days. The appeal builds a Circuit record. It does not merge the two dockets.
Civil Docket Settings and Hearings
Case Events give each civil setting's date, time, room, location, and judge. Motion hearings, pretrial settings, and jury trials show up there. Docket Entries hold the paper trail. These are notices, continuances, amended scheduling orders, and other filings that explain the event. “No Events” does not mean nothing is happening.
Only a signed order and the court's official record control a setting. Asking for a continuance moves nothing by itself. Read the newest docket entries. Then confirm with the assigned Sixth Judicial Circuit division through the Circuit judges directory. The full Pulaski County court dates process covers room, judge, and reset checks.
Pulaski Civil Motion Sequence
Read a civil motion as a chain. MOTION OTHER may carry the request and its detail. A hearing can follow in Case Events. The ruling lands as an order, sometimes with a WEB link. Stop at the motion. A pending request can look granted. Stop at the order and you miss the filing that prompted it. The official eFlex resources page shows the filing workspace behind many Pulaski civil entries.
Reading public records in Search ARCourts takes no eFlex filing account. eFlex simply feeds accepted filing metadata into Contexte, which supplies the public register.
Pulaski Civil eFiling Milestone
Pulaski Circuit led the state into electronic filing. Its Arkansas pilot opened in March 2012 and covered civil, domestic, and probate matters. After a one-year transition, attorney e-filing became mandatory in March 2013. Because of that head start, a Pulaski civil docket entry can carry electronic stamps listing the court, clerk, timestamp, case number, division code, and page count. The Arkansas eFiling instructions describe the court filing process in detail.
An electronic stamp only documents receipt and routing. It does not make confidential content public or replace the docket's later acceptance and order history.
Pulaski Civil WEB Images
Search ARCourts can show the free civil register while withholding an image. A Documents entry reading WEB means you should follow the official link. If it reads None, write down the case number, date, and description. Then ask County Records for the filing. A complaint, motion, judgment, or other document can still exist. The eFlex terms and Administrative Order 21 material set out the duties. Those duties attach to electronic filing.
Redaction stays the filer's job. Public access is governed by Arkansas court-record rules, not by the fact that a document was filed electronically.
Note: A Pulaski civil docket entry can be public even when the underlying document has no WEB link.
Civil Docket Access Rules
Arkansas Supreme Court Administrative Order 19 presumes access to court records. The presumption stops at material made confidential by law, rule, or court order. Social Security numbers, account data, judicial notes, sealed material, and protected addresses stay closed no matter how public the case shell is. Sensitive categories get extra protection. Juvenile, adoption, dependency-neglect, and sensitive family records may be closed or limited.
Public access rules:
Administrative Order 19 controls Arkansas court-record access and permits Internet access to be narrower than courthouse access.
Arkansas FOIA supplies a general public-record framework, while adjudicative court files follow the court order and clerk route.
Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 6-3 seals adoption and juvenile appeals and uses initials.
When a public filing lacks an image, request it from the clerk. No formal county records request can bypass a court seal.
Pulaski Civil Copies and Fees
A free docket register, a filed document, and a certified copy are three distinct layers. County Records charges $5 for a sealed certified Circuit court document. It is available for pickup or by mail. Email never does. Filing charges run higher. The clerk's published schedule lists $165 to initiate a Circuit civil, domestic, probate, or appeal action and $50 to reopen or transfer certain actions. Those numbers cover filing, not viewing the public register.
When you request a document, give party names, case number, entry date, and description. Ask also about the plain-copy price, page count, archive needs, and retrieval time. Current official Pulaski sources do not publish each of those figures. The Pulaski County case lookup can supply the identifier before a copy request.