Clay County Jail & Detention Center Inmate Bail & Bonds

A blank result usually means the booking is too fresh to post, or the person is in a neighboring county. Call 870-598-2270 and ask. In 2021 the county moved ten prisoners to the Greene and Randolph county jails during a temporary closure, so it is worth asking a deputy whether anyone has been transferred.

Clay County is split into an Eastern District served from Piggott and a Western District served from Corning. Where the arrest happened usually decides which holds the file. Both clerk offices are open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Give the full name and birth date to the Piggott office, 870-598-2524, or the Corning office, 870-857-3271, and ask which judge signed the order.

Call 870-598-2270 with the booking number and get the figure for every charge, one by one. A $500 charge can sit beside a $25,000 one, and release requires all of them. Ask, too, whether another agency has placed a hold, since a hold stops release even after the bond is paid.

A judge, never the sheriff. Many charges carry a preset figure from a local schedule the judges approve, so the jail can quote it soon after booking. Charges without one wait for a first appearance, which Arkansas Rule 8.1 requires without unnecessary delay: about 48 hours, or 72 over a weekend. The district judge, who works from a Paragould office at 870-565-1779, handles Clay County's district court.

Bring the exact amount in cash, or use a money order or cashier's check. The jail has described a lobby kiosk and card payments with a service fee, but those rules change. Call 870-598-2270 and ask three things: whom to make a money order out to, whether after-hours and weekend bonds are accepted, and whether the court adds a filing fee. Bring photo ID and hold on to the receipt.

State law, Ark. Code 17-19-301, sets the premium at 10 percent, rounded up to the next $5. Add a $10 state board fee and a $15 processing fee. On a $5,000 bond that is about $525, and none of it comes back, even if the charge is dropped. Ask to see the agent's license from the Professional Bail Bond Company and Professional Bail Bondsman Licensing Board, and ask what collateral the agent wants.

State law lets a private person act as surety if that person lives in Arkansas and owns visible property worth the bail above debts and exemptions. The sheriff or police chief signs a statement describing the property before the court sees it. Whether a Clay County judge takes farmland or a house, and whether it must lie inside the county, is the judge's call. Ask the clerk, 870-598-2524, for the paperwork, and bring the deed and a tax statement. Expect days, not hours.

The court sits in three towns under one district judge. The Piggott department is in the courthouse at 151 South 2nd Avenue, 870-598-2265. Corning answers at 870-857-0115, and Rector is at 407 South Stewart Street, 870-595-9805. Misdemeanors, traffic, and felony probable-cause hearings start here, then felonies move up to circuit court.

Only for who to call about the report. Piggott, Corning, and Rector officers all book adults into the county jail in Piggott. Piggott Police, 194 West Court Street, 870-598-2295. Corning Police, 308 West Main Street, 870-857-3311. Rector Police, 407 South Stewart Street, 870-595-2423. If a department says the person went elsewhere, get that jail's name before calling anyone else.

The Arkansas Constitution promises bail for every charge except a capital offense when the proof is evident. A judge may also hold someone arrested on a new felony while out on felony bond. No payment gets past a hold from parole, probation, another county or a federal agency. Ask the jail what kind of hold is on the record, and ask the circuit clerk for the written order.

The person asks the judge at the first appearance and fills out a short financial form. Clay County belongs to the Second Judicial District, whose public defender office in Jonesboro serves Clay, Craighead, Greene, and Poinsett counties at 870-932-6226. A public defender can file a motion to lower the amount. Bring the lawyer pay records and proof the person lives in Clay County.

Not to the Piggott jail. Anyone under 18 goes through the juvenile division of circuit court, and adult bail rules do not apply; a judge decides at a detention hearing. There's no juvenile detention center in Clay County. The Craighead County Juvenile Detention Center, 901 Willett Road, Jonesboro, 870-933-4526, is the regional facility; placement details come from the circuit clerk, 870-598-2524, who keeps juvenile records. Juvenile names never appear on the adult roster.

The judge issues a warrant and begins forfeiture, which lets the county keep the cash. Arkansas gives the surety a chance to bring the person in before the money is finally lost, so act that day. Call the district clerk for the right department, or the circuit clerk for a felony, and find out how to get a new date set. A bondsman will hunt for the person and may bill you.

The person whose name is on the receipt. It's paid once the case is over, if all dates were met, with fines, costs and restitution taken out. So your name, not the defendant's, belongs on the receipt if you want the money. Ask the clerk who took it how long refunds take; a few weeks is common.

It doesn't. Commissary deposits and phone or video accounts buy snacks, calls and visits. None of it reaches the court. Put a small amount on the account so the person can call you and a lawyer, but bring bond money to the jail or clerk.

Bond money goes to the Piggott jail, a courthouse window or a licensed agent you picked yourself. County staff never call asking for gift cards, payment apps or wired money to process a release. Someone claiming to be a deputy? End the call and ring 870-598-2270 yourself.

Clay County still runs two judicial districts, with circuit court in Piggott and Corning and district court in three towns:

• Circuit Court, Eastern District (felonies, juvenile, appeals): 151 S. Second Avenue, Piggott, AR 72454 · 870-598-2524
• Circuit Court, Western District (felonies, juvenile, appeals): 800 SW Second Street, Corning, AR 72422 · 870-857-3271
• District Court, Piggott Department (misdemeanors, traffic, first felony appearances): 151 S. Second Avenue, Piggott · 870-598-2265
• District Court, Corning Department: 800 SW Second Street, Corning · 870-857-0115
• District Court, Rector Department: 407 S. Stewart Street, Rector, for cases from that town

The arrest location usually sets the district. Felonies belong to the six-county 2nd Judicial Circuit, which also takes in Craighead, Crittenden, Greene, Mississippi and Poinsett counties.

Federal custody runs outside the Piggott jail, and a local bail agent can't post a federal bond. Clay County cases go to the Northern Division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, which sits at the federal courthouse in Jonesboro, 615 South Main Street, Jonesboro, AR 72401, 870-972-4610. Here's the usual sequence:

• The charge comes from an agency like the FBI, DEA or ATF, by complaint or grand jury indictment.
• The accused goes before a U.S. magistrate judge in Jonesboro or another federal courtroom.
• Pretrial Services talks to the person about work, family and record.
• Prosecutors who want detention get a hearing on it a few days later.
• Anyone released must follow conditions, such as meeting with an officer and staying in the district.

Before trial, the U.S. Marshals decide which jail houses a federal prisoner, and it may not be the Clay County jail. Reach them at U.S. Marshals Service, 600 West Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201, 501-324-6256.

That's possible. A detainer under 8 CFR 287.7 lets ICE ask Piggott to warn it before release and to hold the person as long as 48 extra hours, counting weekends and holidays. Arkansas places no ban on jails honoring that request.

The Clay County case stays active during ICE custody, and missed court dates there still bring warrants. The ICE New Orleans Field Office, 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360 directs ICE work in Arkansas. Detainees from northeast Arkansas are often taken to Louisiana centers, for example:

• LaSalle ICE Processing Center: 830 Pinehill Road, Jena, LA 71342 · 318-992-1600
• Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center: 1133 Hampton Dupre Road, Pine Prairie, LA 70576 · 337-599-2400

Find the person through the ICE Online Detainee Locator System (https://locator.ice.gov/odls/). The A-number paired with birth country is most precise. Name plus birth country is the other way in.

People booked in Piggott can be transferred to a nearby county, a state prison or federal custody. Use these to find them:

• Clay County jail: Clay County Inmate Search. Type the last and first name, then select the entry for charges, booking date and bond. A blank result may just mean the booking is new.
• VINE: VINELink (https://vinelink.vineapps.com/). Choose Arkansas, then look up the name. VINE shows if the person is held and at what facility, and it can send free release notices by text or call.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons: Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/). Use a register number, or name, race, sex and age. People awaiting federal trial may be missing, so phone the Marshals at 501-324-6256.
• Arkansas Division of Correction: Arkansas Division of Correction Inmate Search (https://apps.ark.org/inmate_info/). Search by ADC number or surname for the unit, photo and parole date.

Jail rules and clerk hours change, so phone before heading to Piggott or Corning. The jail at 870-598-2270 can say where the person is and what payment it takes. For felony dates, call the circuit clerk in Piggott at 870-598-2524 or Corning at 870-857-3271. District court dates come from Piggott at 870-598-2265, Corning at 870-857-0115 or Rector at 870-595-9805.