Ashley County

The Detention Center

Not found

• Operated byAshley County Sheriff's Office
• JailThe county's sheriff page has a 'JAIL INFORMATION' section but gives the jail no name or separate address
• Jail Administrator (sheriff's staff)Johnny Guy; jail phone 870-853-2040, jail fax 870-853-9822
• Beds published by the countyNot published
• What was triedCounty home, sheriff, county judge, justices of the peace, circuit court, financial reports and both 2026 agenda pages opened; the elected-officials index returned 404. The agendas are posted only as images, so their items could not be read. No sheriff's own site was returned by search (ashleycountysheriff.com appears only as an email domain)
• Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directoryHolds: Male & Female; capacity 129; jail phone (870) 853-2040; jail administrator Johnny Guy. Checked 18 September 2026; an association directory, not a county source - https://arsheriffs.org/sheriffs/ashley-county-sheriff/

Source: Ashley County, Arkansas - Sheriff · checked 2026-09-18

• ✗The jail is named — not published
• ✗Who is in custody — not published
• ✗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

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Ashley County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-09-18. Nothing here says the jail is run well or badly. Every mark moves the moment the county posts the document.

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

The Sheriff

Sheriff Tommy Sturgeon

• Runs the jailYes - the county's sheriff page states the sheriff's administrative duties include 'serving as the county's jailor' and 'keeping a jail docket'
• How the office is filledThe county page: 'The Sheriff is elected at-large and serves a four-year term'
• 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
• Office address842 Ashley 12 West, Hamburg, AR 71646; 870-853-2040
• Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directoryLists Tommy Sturgeon ('Elected in 2017'); office 842 Ashley 12 West, Hamburg, AR 71646, phone (870) 853-2040. Checked 18 September 2026; an association directory, not a county source - https://arsheriffs.org/sheriffs/ashley-county-sheriff/

Source: Ashley County, Arkansas - Sheriff · 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. The county's circuit court page places Ashley County in the Tenth Judicial District and lists the five division judges; it does not say which judicial officer sets bail at 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 judgeJim Hudson — 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 courtQuorum court page →
• Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →