The Detention Center
Arkansas County Detention Center
- Operated byArkansas County Sheriff's Office
- Name sourceThe sheriff's roster page disclaimer refers to 'the Arkansas County Detention Center'
- Jail address1000 Ricebelt Ave., DeWitt, AR 72042 - the same building as the sheriff's South District office (location confirmed 18 September 2026)
- Jail staff (sheriff's employees)Jail Administrator Deputy Tyran McCradic, 870-659-2064; Assistant Jail Administrator Peggy Pitts, 870-659-2062; Booking Officer Tabetha Inman
- RosterCurrent-inmate roster with bond amounts; showed 81 inmates when opened, plus a 48-hour release list
- Beds published by the countyNot published
- What was triedSheriff's home, jail, administration, district office, resources, message, press and roster pages opened; arcosheriff.org/jail returned 404. No county government site (county judge / quorum court) was returned by search. arkansascountycourt.org states it is privately owned and not a government site - not cited
- Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directoryHolds: Male & Female; capacity 136; jail phone (870) 659-2064; jail administrator Tyran McCradic. Checked 18 September 2026; an association directory, not a county source - https://arsheriffs.org/sheriffs/arkansas-county-sheriff/
Source: Arkansas County Sheriff's Office - Jail · checked 2026-09-18
Transparency rating
2/10Closed- ✓The jail is named
- ✓Who is in custody
- ✗Beds and daily population — not published
- ✗What it costs taxpayers — not published
- ✗Deaths in custody — not published
- ✗PREA audits — not published
- ✗Independent inspection — not published
- ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
- ✗How to post bond — not published
- ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published
The Building
You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.
- Year builtNot found
- Original costNot found
- Paid for byNot found
- BedsNot found
Since then
- Not found
The Sheriff
Sheriff Johnny Cheek
- Runs the jailYes - the sheriff's office site carries the jail page and the Arkansas County Detention Center inmate roster
- How the office is filledElected county sheriff, four-year term (Ark. Const. art. 7, § 46; Amendment 95)
- Statutory basisA.C.A. § 12-41-502 gives the county sheriff the custody, rule, and charge of the jail and all prisoners committed in the county
- Name as published'Sheriff Johnny Cheek' on the sheriff's administration page and as signer of the 'Message from Sheriff' page; no tenure dates published
- OfficesNorth District: 312 S. College St., Stuttgart, AR 72160, 870-659-2066; South District: 1000 Ricebelt Ave., DeWitt, AR 72042, 870-659-2060
- Chief DeputyJeremiah Richard
- Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directoryLists Johnny Cheek ('Elected in 2023'); office 1000 Ricebelt Ave, DeWitt, AR 72042, phone (870) 659-2060. Checked 18 September 2026; an association directory, not a county source - https://arsheriffs.org/sheriffs/arkansas-county-sheriff/
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Arkansas County Sheriff's Office - Administration · checked 2026-09-18
The Judges
Arkansas circuit judges are elected on a nonpartisan ballot to six-year terms; the governor fills a mid-term vacancy by appointment until the next general election. They are state judicial officers, not county officials. Under Ark. R. Crim. P. 8.1 an arrested person goes before a judicial officer without unnecessary delay; depending on the court, that may be a circuit judge or a magistrate. Arkansas's "county judge" is the county's chief executive, not a judicial officer, and does not set bail. No page opened names the county's judicial circuit or a judge.
- The county's bond schedule
- Share of the jail population held pretrial
- Median time from booking to first appearance
Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-09-18
The County Judge and Quorum Court
They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.
- County judgeThomas Best — the county’s chief executive, not a judicial officer; named in the Association of Arkansas Counties directory, checked 2026-09-18
- What they controlThe county judge and quorum court fund and build the jail: the detention budget, the building itself, and any dedicated jail sales tax.
- What they don'tCustody of the jail. Under A.C.A. § 12-41-502 the elected sheriff has “the custody, rule, and charge” of the jail and its prisoners.
- The quorum courtNo quorum court page was found on the county's own site
Notes on the record
- The sheriff's office runs its own domain, arcosheriff.org, confirmed as Arkansas County, Arkansas (district offices in Stuttgart and DeWitt). It is first-party and was read.
- The roster selection page names the Arkansas County Detention Center, meeting the named check; the current-inmate roster publishes names and bond amounts, meeting the roster check. The roster lists bond amounts but gives no guidance on how to post bail, so bond_info is no.
- The jail page lists only staff contacts - no beds, visitation, commissary, phone rates, PREA or bond guidance.
- No county government site was located, so budget, quorum court minutes and any inspection report considered under A.C.A. § 12-26-108 are unexamined rather than confirmed absent.
- Search results included commercial and privately owned sites (stuttgartcityjailar.org, dewittcityjailar.org, inmatedeposits.com, arkansascountycourt.org); none is cited or counted.
- Arkansas law requires each county jail to be inspected at least annually by a governor-appointed district criminal detention facility review committee (A.C.A. § 12-26-107), against mandatory state minimum standards. The written report goes to the district's administrative judge and to the county judge; state law does not require it to be published, and no public state repository of the reports was located.
- Two county seats. The Association of Arkansas Counties page for this county lists the DeWitt courthouse first, as the main seat, and the Stuttgart courthouse second (checked 18 September 2026).
- Arkansas form: an elected County Judge (chief executive) and a Quorum Court (legislative body). No Arkansas County government website was returned by search, so no County Judge or justice of the peace is named here, and no quorum court minutes or agendas could be examined.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Arkansas County and what it costs the people who live here. Nationally, almost 77% of the people who died in local jails in 2019 had not been convicted of anything, and suicide was the leading single cause of those deaths (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2019).
How much is your sheriff — and your judge — costing you?
Your VOTE is POWERFUL.
The sheriff who runs this jail is elected. So are the justices of the peace on the quorum court who pay for it.
Names verified 2026-09-18 · dollars and outcomes still being gathered