The Jefferson County Detention Center is at 300 East 2nd Avenue, Pine Bluff, AR 71601, near the courthouse. Pine Bluff police, White Hall officers, deputies, university police and troopers book arrests there.

Jefferson County Inmate Search lists people in custody with booking information and charges. Search by last name, and check back if an arrest was very recent. If the person was sentenced to state prison, use the Arkansas Division of Correction search instead, since several state units are in this part of the state.

Arkansas requires that a judge find reasonable cause within 48 hours of an arrest without a warrant. After that, Rule 8.1 requires a first appearance without unnecessary delay. In Jefferson County that hearing usually happens on a weekday morning, where the judge names a bond amount and takes requests for appointed counsel.

Pine Bluff District Court and Jefferson County District Court handle misdemeanors and early felony hearings. Felony cases go to circuit court in the courthouse on Barraque Street. Read the Jefferson court process page.

A judge can release someone on their own promise or set a money bond. You can pay the full amount at the jail, and Pine Bluff returns it once the case wraps up as long as the defendant appeared each time. Or you can hire a licensed bondsman, who by Arkansas law can charge no more than ten percent, with a $50 minimum and small state fees on top. Call 870-541-5351 for the bond amount and accepted payments. See Jefferson County bail.

A person who can't hire a lawyer can tell the judge at first appearance. If they qualify, the 11th West Judicial District public defender's office takes the case.

The sheriff's warrants division tracks active warrants, and the office line at 870-541-5351 can tell you whether the booking carries any outside holds. For cases elsewhere in the state, run the name through Search ARCourts, the judiciary's public case search. If another court has a warrant, an attorney can ask that judge to set bond so everything is posted together. Over at the courthouse, the Circuit Clerk in Pine Bluff handles felony case questions at 870-541-5306. Having the date of birth ready speeds each call.

Visits are scheduled through the jail and may be on site or by video. Bring a government photo ID and follow the dress code. Check the current schedule online or by phone, since it changes. See Jefferson visitation and video from home.

Inmates call out using a prepaid account. Messaging and tablets use the same provider. Guides: phone accounts, messages, tablets.

Deposits pay for commissary and phone time. Ask the jail which deposit methods it takes, then see deposit options and commissary.

Write the person's full legal name and booking number, then the jail's street address. Avoid stickers, glitter and staples. See mail rules.

Youth are held at the Jefferson County juvenile justice center at 301 East 2nd Avenue, phone 870-541-8502. A juvenile judge decides whether they stay. Parents should call about visits.

Call and ask that the medical staff be told about medicines, chronic illness or suicide risk.

Jefferson County doesn't collect bond by gift card, wire or app. End the call and dial the sheriff directly.

Phone 870-541-5351 to confirm the person is still held, ask the bond, and check the visiting schedule.

It often begins after officers from the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations and postal inspectors make the arrest. U.S. charges from here land in the Eastern District's Central Division, at the federal courthouse in Little Rock: 500 West Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201. Clerk staff in Little Rock answers at 501-604-5351. A pretrial services officer meets them and reports for the court. Within a day or so, the defendant meets a magistrate judge. In contrast to the county, the federal court will not pick a number from a list. A bail hearing applying federal bail law settles whether they go home.

Start on the sheriff's roster first. Most federal prisoners wait in the Pine Bluff jail rented by the Marshals before trial. Deputy marshals for this district track federal prisoners. Call 501-324-6256. The office is at 600 West Capitol Avenue, Suite A328, Little Rock, AR 72201. With a prison sentence, the BOP assigns a facility. Search with the Bureau of Prisons locator.

• ICE hears about the arrest through fingerprints staff send. ICE may then send a detainer (Form I-247A).
• With the I-247A, ICE asks the sheriff to put off the person's release by up to two days. Saturday doesn't pause the clock.
• A paid bond won't lift an ICE hold.
• During that window, ICE often sends officers to take custody. No pickup by the deadline? In that case the hold ends and the sheriff lets them go on the county case.
• ICE itself picks the detention center.
• Phone calls about this hold go to the St. Rose office near New Orleans, 504-318-2360; mail goes to 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087.
• Search for a detained relative on the ICE detainee locator after the pickup; enter the A-number and birth country. No A-number handy? The name option takes birth country, birth date, and the person's full name.

State prison terms are carried out by the ADC. The person waits in the Pine Bluff jail for a state transfer. The first state stop is a reception unit. At intake, the ADC weighs how much security they need, their medical and mental health, and gang ties. The next move is a prison that fits them.

Try the ADC inmate search to find them. For each unit, see Arkansas prison pages.

Yes. The Jefferson County roster puts Jefferson mugshots beside each person held. A released person may drop off the Jefferson list.

The sheriff's office chooses what to release and media can ask by calling 870-541-5351. Photos ICE took aren't handed out by phone. Instead, use ICE's online FOIA request, which the agency reviews. U.S. mugshots aren't shared with the press or public. Media or family requests won't change that; the Marshals share one only for an escapee or fugitive, if release helps catch them or alert neighbors, or when people nearby need to be kept safe now.

• Pine Bluff Police: 870-541-5300
• White Hall Police: 870-247-1414
• Jefferson County Sheriff's Office: 870-541-5351

Redfield, Wabbaseka, Altheimer, Humphrey and rural areas use the sheriff unless a city site lists its own police.