The Detention Center
Not scored. The county's own website was not reachable in the session that produced this record, so its disclosures were never examined. This is a gap in the research, not a finding about the county.
- Operated byNot found
- JailNo county page naming a jail could be found. The Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directory (not a county source) lists 10 jail beds, males only, and names Erica Best as jail administrator on the sheriff's staff
- Where women goNot found - the directory says the beds are for males only, but no page opened says where female prisoners are held
- What was triedThe county search returned no Cleveland County, Arkansas government or sheriff's site - only commercial inmate-lookup sites (jailexchange, countyoffice.org, govbackgroundchecks and others), none of which is cited. The Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directory page was opened and links no county or sheriff's website
- Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directoryHolds: Males Only; capacity 10; jail phone (870) 325-6222; jail administrator Erica Best. Checked 18 September 2026; an association directory, not a county source - https://arsheriffs.org/sheriffs/cleveland-county-sheriff/
Source: Arkansas Sheriffs' Association - Cleveland County Sheriff · checked 2026-09-18
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 Jack H. Rodgers II
- Runs the jailNot established from a county page - no county or sheriff's own page could be found
- How the office is filledElected county sheriff, 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
- Name as publishedListed as Cleveland County Sheriff by the Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directory, which gives 2013 as his election year; no county page could be opened to confirm
- Office address20 Magnolia Street, Rison, AR 71665; (870) 325-6222 (Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directory)
- Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directoryLists Jack H. Rodgers II ('Elected in 2013'); office 20 Magonlia Street, Rison, AR 71665, phone (870) 325-6222. Checked 18 September 2026; an association directory, not a county source - https://arsheriffs.org/sheriffs/cleveland-county-sheriff/
- Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
- Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
- Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail
Source: Arkansas Sheriffs' Association - Cleveland County 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. No page opened for this county names its circuit number or a circuit 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 judgeDon Triplett — 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
- Unexamined, not closed: no Cleveland County, Arkansas government site and no sheriff's own site was found. With no county-published page to read, audit.checks is left empty rather than scored ten no's.
- Everything recorded here comes from the Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directory, which is not county publishing: sheriff Jack H. Rodgers II (election year given as 2013), office at 20 Magnolia Street, Rison, 10 jail beds for males only, jail administrator Erica Best, chief deputy Gary Young. The 10-bed figure is not entered as a county building fact and cannot satisfy the capacity check. Erica Best is sheriff's staff; the elected sheriff remains the jailer, so jail_administrator is null.
- Rison is recorded as the seat from the same directory page.
- Search results were entirely commercial inmate-lookup sites; 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.
- Arkansas form: an elected County Judge (the county's chief executive, not a judicial officer) and a Quorum Court (the legislative body), which hold the jail's funding and construction authority. No Cleveland County, Arkansas government site was found, so no County Judge or justice of the peace is named and no minutes or agendas were examined.
These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Cleveland 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