Cleburne County Detention Center

Cleburne County sends women who face a longer stay to the White County Jail at 1600 East Booth Road in Searcy, 501-278-8050, under a paid housing contract, about 30 miles away. Her case, judge, and bond stay in Cleburne County. Pay through the Heber Springs jail at 501-362-2596, and ask how long release paperwork takes to reach Searcy and whether you must collect her there.

The detention center, 501-362-2596, which answers at all hours. The sheriff's main office, 501-362-8143, keeps weekday hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will transfer you. Callers get faster answers when they can give a full legal name plus date of birth. Ask for the amount on every charge, and whether any charge has none yet because a judge has not seen it.

By the sheriff's own published answers: no sheriff's bonds, meaning deputies will not set or lower an amount; generally no property or own-recognizance bonds without a judge's order; and no refunds of a surety fee paid to a bonding company. Deputies also cannot recommend a bondsman, so do not ask them to pick one.

Rarely. Rule 5.2 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure allows release by citation instead of jail, but the sheriff's office says this is seldom allowed, and for a felony it wants the prosecutor's recommendation first. A judge can still order release without money at the first appearance. If the person has steady work, a local address, and no missed court dates, make sure the lawyer says so.

At the front counter of the detention center, 914 South 9th Street. Call 501-362-2596 before you leave and ask whether the day's payment is cash only or also includes a cashier's check or money order, and what the exact total is with any filing fee. The jail's bond instructions also say to call first. Take photo ID. Once the case is in circuit court, the clerk at 501-362-8149 may handle the money instead.

Cheaper today, costlier in the end. A licensed bondsman charges exactly 10 percent, rounded up to the next $5, under Arkansas Code 17-19-301, plus a $10 state fee and a $15 processing charge. It is gone for good. Cash you post yourself returns when the case closes, minus anything the judge orders. If you cannot raise the full amount, the bondsman is the realistic path; check the license with the state board first.

State law allows a private surety who lives in Arkansas and owns property worth the bond, with a statement signed by the sheriff. In Cleburne County the sheriff has chosen not to accept property bonds in the ordinary case, and only a circuit judge can order otherwise. If land is the family's only asset, have a lawyer file a motion and carry the deed plus a recent tax bill to the circuit clerk. Expect days.

Many common charges carry a preset figure the jail can quote immediately. The rest wait for a first appearance, which Arkansas Rule 8.1 says must come without unnecessary delay, normally within about two days and no later than three over a weekend. The district court office, 501-362-6585, can give the next court date. Felonies then move to the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit.

Four departments serve the county under one district judge: Heber Springs at 922 South 9th Street, 501-362-6585; Greers Ferry at 8739 Edgemont Road, 501-825-7172; Quitman at 501-589-3512; and Concord at 870-668-3315. The department usually matches the town whose officer wrote the charge.

Adults arrested by town officers end up at the South 9th Street jail, since the towns seem to have no holding cells of their own. For an arrest report, call Heber Springs Police, 1001 West Main Street, 501-362-8291; Greers Ferry Police, 501-825-7172; or Quitman Police, 501-589-3512. The judge, not the arresting officer, sets the amount.

It is a judge's order to bring someone to court, often over unpaid fines or a missed civil hearing. The sheriff explains that some name a cash amount that frees the person once paid, while others require holding the person until the issuing judge sees them. Ask the jail which kind you have and which judge signed it.

Under the Arkansas Constitution bail may be refused outright only for a capital offense where the proof is evident. Even with the bond paid, certain holds can stop a release: parole or probation, a warrant from another county, a federal detainer, or a judge's order after someone already out on a felony bond is picked up for another felony. Pay nothing until the jail confirms there is no hold.

The Sixteenth Judicial District office in Heber Springs covers Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, and Stone counties. Call 501-362-4611. The judge appoints it after the person fills out a financial form at the first appearance. Appointed counsel may request a smaller bond and learn whether the prosecutor would agree to release.

Not to the adult jail. Cases involving children are heard in circuit court's juvenile division, and a judge decides at a detention hearing whether the child stays in custody. With no youth lockup inside Cleburne County, a child ordered held is taken to a licensed facility elsewhere. The circuit clerk, 501-362-8149, keeps juvenile files and can say which center and when the hearing is. The public defender at 501-362-4611 can also help.

It doesn't. Cash left at the front counter, or a deposit at the lobby kiosk, goes to the commissary account. Video visits and messages run through a separate account. None of it touches the bond. Visits are by video only, seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The money stays with the court while charges are pending. When each hearing was attended, the clerk refunds it to the person on the receipt after subtracting fines, costs, and restitution. A missed date triggers a warrant and a forfeiture hearing, after which the county may keep the cash. Put your own name on the receipt and keep it.

Real jail and court staff never want payment by gift card, payment app or wire, and deputies do not recommend bondsmen. If someone claiming to be a deputy or bonding agent presses you to pay by phone, hang up and call 501-362-2596 yourself.

Felonies and juvenile matters sit in circuit court in Heber Springs. Misdemeanors, traffic and first felony hearings go to district court, which has four departments:

• Cleburne County Circuit Court (felonies, juvenile, appeals): Cleburne County Courthouse, 301 W. Main Street, Heber Springs, AR 72543 · 501-362-8149
• District Court, Heber Springs Department: 922 S. 9th Street, Heber Springs, AR 72543 · 501-362-6585
• District Court, Greers Ferry Department: 8739 Edgemont Road, Greers Ferry
• District Court, Quitman Department: ask the Heber Springs office for the session days
• District Court, Concord Department: ask the Heber Springs office for the session days

The town whose officer made the arrest usually decides the department. Circuit judges ride the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, a five-county loop with Fulton, Independence, Izard and Stone.

A bail agent in Heber Springs has no say over a federal bond, and the county jail does not set it. Heber Springs arrests go to the Little Rock based Central Division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, which meets at the federal courthouse in Little Rock, 500 West Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201, 501-604-5351. The steps usually run like this:

• An agency such as the FBI, DEA, ATF or Homeland Security files a complaint, or a grand jury returns an indictment.
• The defendant first faces a U.S. magistrate judge in Little Rock.
• A Pretrial Services officer gathers facts on job, home and past record.
• Should prosecutors seek to hold the person, a judge rules on that at a hearing a few days later.
• Release, when granted, comes with rules like check-ins and travel limits.

The U.S. Marshals pick the jail where a federal defendant waits for trial, which may be far from Heber Springs. Their office is U.S. Marshals Service, 600 West Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201, 501-324-6256.

It could. Under 8 CFR 287.7, ICE may send the Heber Springs jail a detainer requesting a heads-up ahead of release plus up to 48 more hours of custody, and weekends and holidays count. State law in Arkansas does not stop the jail from honoring it.

Being moved to ICE does not end the local charges, and skipping a Cleburne County court date still leads to a warrant. ICE work in Arkansas is run by the ICE New Orleans Field Office, 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360. North-central Arkansas detainees frequently end up in Louisiana centers, among them:

• 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

Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator System (https://locator.ice.gov/odls/) with the A-number and country of birth, or with full name and country of birth.

After booking in Heber Springs, a person could be moved to White County, a prison unit run by the state or a federal lockup. Check each of these:

• Cleburne County jail: Cleburne County Inmate Search. Enter the surname and given name, and click the match for charges, booking date and bond amount.
• VINE: VINELink (https://vinelink.vineapps.com/). Pick Arkansas and search the name. Results say if the person is locked up and where, and you can sign up for free text or phone alerts at release.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons: Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/). Search with a register number, or with name, race, sex and age. People still awaiting federal trial may be missing from it; for them, ring the Marshals at 501-324-6256.
• Arkansas Division of Correction: Arkansas Division of Correction Inmate Search (https://apps.ark.org/inmate_info/). An ADC number or surname brings up the assigned unit and parole eligibility date.

Payment rules and office hours can shift, so call ahead. The detention center at 501-362-2596 answers day and night and can confirm the person's location and accepted payment types. The circuit clerk at 501-362-8149 has felony dates, and the district court at 501-362-6585 has misdemeanor and traffic dates.

Most misdemeanors in Cleburne County begin with a ticket or arrest by sheriff's deputies, Heber Springs or other town police, or state troopers. Someone taken to jail goes before a judge promptly, as required by Rule 8.1 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the rules favor letting the defendant out on a signed promise unless conditions are needed to secure attendance or protect others. When money bail is set, families may pay the full amount or use a bail company holding a license from the state’s Professional Bail Bond Company and Professional Bail Bondsman Licensing Board.

Arkansas divides misdemeanors into three classes. Class A misdemeanors bring a maximum of a year behind bars and $2,500 in fines; Class B tops out at 90 days and $1,000; Class C at 30 days and $500. Shoplifting and similar thefts of $1,000 or less usually count as Class A, the same class as third-degree battery. Criminal trespass is usually a Class B or C offense depending on the property involved. A first DWI can mean 24 hours up to one year locked up, fines from $150 to $1,000, a license suspension and, for a restricted license, typically an ignition interlock.

The district judge decides these cases without a jury. Within 30 days, either side's loss can be appealed to circuit court, which hears the whole case fresh, and the defendant may ask for jurors there. In practice, most Cleburne County misdemeanors finish with a plea, a reduced charge, probation, fines and costs, or a class, usually within a few months.

A teenager under 18 accused of the same kind of conduct normally appears before the juvenile division of the Cleburne County Circuit Court rather than the district judge. The prosecutor may offer a diversion agreement that keeps a first-time youth out of formal adjudication if the youth finishes tasks like counseling, paying back losses or volunteer work. Minor traffic matters are among the few juvenile violations that may still be handled in district court.

After a warrantless felony arrest, a judge has 48 hours to decide whether reasonable cause exists. At the first appearance, often held before the district judge in Heber Springs, the court reviews the charge, sets bond and finds out if a court-appointed lawyer is needed. A financial affidavit is used to decide eligibility, and Arkansas law allows the judge to order a defendant to pay toward the cost of the public defender if able.

Rather than relying on a grand jury, the Sixteenth District prosecutor typically charges a felony by filing a written information in circuit court. Arraignment follows, then discovery, plea talks and pretrial motions. Rule 28.1 requires that a defendant be brought to trial within 12 months, not counting delays the rules exclude, such as continuances the defense requests. Felony juries in Arkansas have 12 members, and if a defendant is convicted at trial, the same jury usually recommends the sentence within the statutory range.

Felony ranges depend on class: Class Y carries 10 to 40 years or life; Class A, 6 to 30; Class B, 5 to 20; Class C, 3 to 10; and Class D, up to 6. Breaking into a home to commit a crime is residential burglary, a Class B felony, while the commercial version is Class C. Stealing property worth more than $1,000 moves theft into felony territory. Penalties for delivering a controlled substance scale with the drug and the weight. A ten-year look-back applies, and the fourth DWI in that span is charged as a felony. Plea bargains settle the bulk of Cleburne County felonies, often with probation or a suspended sentence for people without serious records.

For juveniles, Arkansas leaves much to the prosecutor. A 16- or 17-year-old accused of any felony can be charged in either the juvenile division or the adult criminal division, and either side may ask for a transfer hearing, where the judge weighs ten statutory factors and must find clear and convincing evidence to move the case. A detained youth must receive a detention hearing within 72 hours. Kept in juvenile court, a case may close with supervision, treatment or placement with the Division of Youth Services, which first sends youths to its assessment center near Alexander. Prosecutors can also seek an Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction designation, which allows supervision past 18 and an adult sentence held in reserve.

These prosecutions follow the felony path but carry far heavier stakes. Article 2, Section 8 of the Arkansas Constitution guarantees bail except in capital cases where the proof is evident or the presumption great, so a person charged with capital murder may be held without any bond. Bond for other violent charges is frequently set high, with no-contact orders protecting the alleged victim.

Class Y, the top felony class, covers first-degree murder, rape and aggravated robbery and carries a floor of 10 years. Capital murder has only two possible punishments: death or life without parole. Under the Protect Arkansas Act, for crimes committed on or after January 1, 2025, a person convicted of capital murder, rape or aggravated robbery must serve the entire sentence, and second-degree murder requires at least 85%. Arkansas had 23 men under a death sentence as of April 2026 and has not executed anyone since 2017. Lethal injection remains the method, and the legislature authorized nitrogen hypoxia in 2025.

Victims in Cleburne County have rights under the Arkansas victims’ rights statutes, Ark. Code 16-90-1101 and following, including notice of hearings, a chance to be heard on release and plea decisions, and a chance to describe the harm to the judge before sentence is passed. The Sixteenth District prosecutor’s victim-witness coordinator explains each stage and helps with restitution requests. Serious violent cases can take a year or longer to resolve.

Youths aged 14 or 15 facing the gravest charges, including capital or first-degree murder, rape, kidnapping and aggravated robbery, can skip juvenile court and start in adult court, and older teens may be charged there for any felony. A transfer hearing can still send the case back to juvenile court or to Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction. Anyone under 18 at the time of the crime cannot receive the death penalty, and Arkansas’s 2017 Fair Sentencing of Minors Act lets someone who was a juvenile at the time of a capital murder seek parole once 30 years are served.

Two state courts handle criminal cases in Cleburne County:

• Cleburne County Circuit Court: Cleburne County Courthouse, 301 W. Main Street, Heber Springs, AR 72543, 501-362-8149
• Cleburne County District Court, Heber Springs: 922 S. 9th Street, Heber Springs, AR 72543, 501-362-6585
• District Court, Greers Ferry Department: 8739 Edgemont Road, Greers Ferry
• District Court, Quitman and Concord Departments: call the Heber Springs office for dates

Circuit court tries felonies and hears juvenile cases and appeals. Misdemeanors, traffic citations and a felony suspect's opening hearing are district court work.

Cleburne County wraps around Greers Ferry Lake in the foothills of the Ozarks, and its criminal docket runs through two state courts in Heber Springs. Felonies are tried by the Cleburne County Circuit Court, which sits in the Cleburne County Courthouse, 301 W. Main Street, Heber Springs, AR 72543. The Circuit Clerk can be reached at (501) 362-8149. Cleburne is one of five counties in Arkansas’s Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, along with Fulton, Independence, Izard and Stone, so its circuit judges travel among those courthouses. The circuit court also has a juvenile division and decides appeals that come up from district court. For the next step, try our bail and bond page.

Misdemeanors, traffic tickets and the earliest hearings in many felony arrests go to the Cleburne County District Court, 922 S. 9th Street, Heber Springs, AR 72543, (501) 362-6585. The elected Prosecuting Attorney for the Sixteenth Judicial District files felony charges and state misdemeanors throughout the five counties. People charged with a crime who lack money for counsel can ask for a public defender from the district office funded through the Arkansas Public Defender Commission, a state agency.

This overview of Cleburne County criminal procedure is meant as background, not legal advice. Defense counsel can answer questions about a specific charge, or you can call the Cleburne County Circuit Clerk at (501) 362-8149 to ask about public defender appointment.

Felony hearing dates come from the Heber Springs circuit clerk at 501-362-8149. For misdemeanor or traffic dates, call the district court at 501-362-6585.

The sheriff's office in Heber Springs serves warrants countywide; call 501-362-2596 to ask about a specific name. For court records, try Search ARCourts, Arkansas's statewide case search for circuit and many district courts. Clearing a warrant usually means calling a defense lawyer, who can arrange a walk-in surrender at the jail on South 9th Street and ask the judge for bond. The Circuit Clerk handles felony files at 501-362-8149. Showing up early in the day, with ID and any notices you've received, gives staff the most time to process everything.

Federal prosecutions arising in Cleburne County belong to the Central Division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, which holds court at the federal courthouse in Little Rock; the clerk’s office is at 600 W. Capitol Avenue, Room A-149, Little Rock, AR 72201, (501) 604-5351. No federal courtroom operates inside the county. The dividing line is which government wrote the law that was broken. An act that violates the Arkansas Criminal Code is a state offense, charged by the local prosecuting attorney and heard in circuit or district court. A federal crime breaks a statute passed by Congress or touches a federal interest: a methamphetamine ring that moves product across state lines, possession of a gun by someone federally barred from having one, fraud against a federally insured bank, or certain offenses on federal Corps of Engineers property surrounding Greers Ferry Lake and its dam. Federal agents and the U.S. Attorney’s office decide which of those matters to pursue, and certain acts may break both state and federal law.

Federal crimes such as meth distribution, gun possession by a felon or fraud against a federal program go to Little Rock, home of the Central Division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, at the federal courthouse in Little Rock, 500 West Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201, 501-604-5351.

• The first appearance is in front of a magistrate judge.
• Pretrial Services writes a background report for the judge.
• Prosecutors who want the defendant held must win a detention hearing.
• A felony case needs a grand jury indictment before trial.
• The U.S. Marshals keep custody of federal defendants: U.S. Marshals Service, 600 West Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201, 501-324-6256.

One arrest can lead to both a state case in Heber Springs and a federal case, and the two move on separate tracks.

• Cleburne County jail: Cleburne County Inmate Search. Search by surname for the booking date and charge list.
• VINE: VINELink (https://vinelink.vineapps.com/). Select Arkansas, search the name and sign up for free custody alerts.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons: Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/). Sentenced federal inmates show up by register number or name.
• Arkansas Division of Correction: Arkansas Division of Correction Inmate Search (https://apps.ark.org/inmate_info/). Enter a name or ADC number to find the state unit.

An ICE detainer asks the Heber Springs jail to hold a person as long as 48 hours past release, with weekends and holidays counted. The county charges stay open.

The ICE New Orleans Field Office, 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360 handles all of Arkansas, and people it detains often go to Louisiana:

• 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

Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator System (https://locator.ice.gov/odls/) with an A-number, or a full name and birth country.