Sharp County, Arkansas — The Jail, the Sheriff, the Judges

The Detention Center

Sharp County Detention Center

Operated bySharp County Sheriff's Office
Jail address84 Arnhart Street, Ash Flat, AR 72513, behind the Sharp County Courthouse
Jail line(870) 994-7329
Jail AdministratorEdith Elliot (staff under the sheriff)
StaffingTen full-time and four part-time staff, plus medical staff
PopulationAbout 1,100 inmates processed a year; average daily population of 72, per the sheriff's jail page (no date given)
Beds published by the countyNot published
VisitationIn person Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-4:00 PM at the sheriff's lobby; one free kiosk visit per week; video visits scheduled 24 hours ahead
Communications and commissaryPhone, video visits and messaging through NCIC (ncic.com); commissary through tigercommissary.com; no rates published
RosterThe sheriff's Inmate Roster page links a live roster hosted at myr2m.com, which showed 98 current inmates with bond amounts when opened
What was triedThe sheriff's press-release page was refused (PROVENANCE_REQUIRED). No county government site appeared in the search results.
Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directoryHolds: Male & Female; capacity 110; jail phone (870) 994-7329; jail administrator Edith Elliott. Checked 18 September 2026; an association directory, not a county source - https://arsheriffs.org/sheriffs/sharp-county-sheriff/

Source: Sharp County Sheriff AR - Jail · checked 2026-09-18

Transparency rating

3/10Closed

✓The jail is named
✓Who is in custody
✓Beds and daily population
✗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 Sharp 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

Since then

Not found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Shane Russell

Runs the jailYes - the sheriff's jail page states the jail is under the leadership and direction of Sheriff Shane Russell (A.C.A. § 12-41-502)
How the office is filledElected county sheriff, four-year term
Chief DeputyKevin 'Bart' Simpson, per the sheriff's jail page
Office address84 Arnhart St., Ash Flat, AR 72513; non-emergency 870-994-2211
Also named onThe Association of Arkansas Counties county directory
Arkansas Sheriffs' Association directoryLists Shane Russell ('Elected in 2023'); office 84 Arnhart St, Ash Flat, AR 72513, phone (870) 994-7356. Checked 18 September 2026; an association directory, not a county source - https://arsheriffs.org/sheriffs/sharp-county-sheriff/

Still needed

Detention budget requested vs. approved, by year
Jail staffing levels and vacancy rate
Lawsuits and settlements involving the jail

Source: Sharp County Sheriff AR - Jail · 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.

Still needed

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 judgeMark Counts — 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

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.
Only the sheriff's own domain, sharpcountysheriff.com, was reached; the checks reflect that site alone.
The roster check rests on the sheriff's Inmate Roster page, which hands off to a live roster hosted at myr2m.com (98 current inmates, with bond amounts, when opened).
The capacity check rests on the published average daily population of 72; no bed count is published.
The fees check is no: the jail page names NCIC and Tiger Commissary but publishes no rates. Bond amounts appear on the roster, but no guidance on how to post bond was found, so bond_info is no.
The county seat, Ash Flat, comes from the Association of Arkansas Counties; the sheriff's office and jail are in Ash Flat.
Arkansas form: an elected county judge (the county's chief executive, not a judicial officer) and a quorum court. The Association of Arkansas Counties lists County Judge Mark Counts, (870) 994-7338, and names no county website. No quorum court members are recorded.

These three offices decide who sits in a cell in Sharp 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