Lee County Jail Criminal Court Process

Last updated by Mark Miclette

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Criminal Court Process for Lee County Arkansas

Inside the Lee County Criminal Courts

Lee County lies in the Mississippi Delta between the St. Francis and Mississippi rivers, and every criminal case filed there is heard in Marianna, the county seat, a short walk from the town square. Felonies fall to the Lee County Circuit Court, part of the six-county 1st Judicial Circuit, which also takes in Cross, Monroe, Phillips, St. Francis and Woodruff counties. The judges ride circuit to the Lee County Courthouse, 15 E. Chestnut Street, Marianna, AR 72360, where the Circuit Clerk keeps the criminal docket and can be called at (870) 295-7710. Juvenile delinquency hearings and appeals from district court are also heard in circuit court.

Under the same roof, the Lee County District Court in Room 9 of the courthouse takes traffic tickets, misdemeanor charges and the opening hearings in felony matters. Its clerk’s line is (870) 295-7730, and court is held twice a month on a Monday.

The Prosecuting Attorney elected for the 1st Judicial District, along with a deputy assigned to Lee County, handles state prosecutions in both courts. Public defenders serving the 1st District, with funding from the Arkansas Public Defender Commission, represent defendants found unable to hire counsel. The sheriff’s small jail in Marianna holds people awaiting court. The state’s East Arkansas Regional Unit at Brickeys is also in Lee County, but it houses state prisoners serving sentences and does not take local arrests.

Federal prosecutions from Marianna are assigned to the Eastern District of Arkansas’s Delta Division, whose judges use Courtroom 314 in the federal building at 617 Walnut Street in Helena, roughly 25 miles south of Marianna. The Helena site has no clerk’s office, so filings and clerk questions go through Little Rock. The test for which system takes a case is whose statute was violated. Assaults, burglaries and most drug arrests in Marianna violate Arkansas law and are prosecuted by the 1st District prosecutor. Federal crimes are those created by Congress, such as moving narcotics through a multistate supply chain, possessing a gun after a felony conviction, defrauding federal farm or nutrition programs, or committing crimes in the St. Francis National Forest, a federal forest on Crowley’s Ridge southeast of Marianna. Agents from agencies like the FBI, DEA or Forest Service build those cases, and the U.S. Attorney takes them to the federal bench.

Pick a case type below to see the typical path in Marianna.

Misdemeanors in Room 9 (minor theft of property, first DWI, battery, trespassing)

A misdemeanor in Lee County usually starts either with a citation listing a date in district court or with a booking at the Marianna jail. Arkansas’s criminal rules call for a booked defendant to see a judge promptly, and when police acted without a warrant, the judge must determine probable cause within 48 hours of the arrest. Judges generally release misdemeanor defendants on their own recognizance or on a bond, and a licensed bondsman may cover that bond in exchange for a premium.

The class of the misdemeanor sets the maximum punishment. For Class A, which includes most third-degree battery and minor theft charges, the ceiling is $2,500 and 12 months; for Class B, 90 days and $1,000; for Class C, including most trespassing, 30 days and $500. A first DWI is governed by separate statutes that call for possible jail or community service, fines, completion of an alcohol education program and license penalties.

Room 9 has no jury box in use for these cases; the judge alone weighs the evidence. A defendant found guilty has 30 days to take the case upstairs, so to speak, to Lee County Circuit Court, which hears it again from scratch and offers a jury. Indigent defendants who face jail may request appointed counsel; Arkansas courts may set a modest fee for that representation, though it can be waived when the defendant cannot afford it.

Children and teens accused of misdemeanors usually go before the 1st Circuit’s juvenile division rather than district court, with traffic matters and some alcohol violations being the main exceptions. Juvenile intake in Lee County can offer first-time offenders a diversion agreement, which closes the case once the youth completes requirements like counseling, restitution or community service.

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Felonies before the circuit judge (burglary, felony theft, delivery of controlled substances, felony DWI)

Felony defendants in Lee County typically begin with a district court appearance covering probable cause, bond and, where needed, a public defender. Formal felony charges come later, if the 1st District prosecutor files an information with the circuit clerk; Arkansas seldom uses grand juries to bring charges. Everyone is entitled to bail except people facing a capital charge with evident proof.

Because the 1st Circuit’s judges cover six counties, Lee County felony cases are scheduled on the days a judge sits in Marianna. After arraignment, there are discovery, motions and usually plea talks. The speedy-trial rule allows one year, with excluded periods tacked on. A felony trial needs all twelve jurors to agree, and in most cases those jurors fix the punishment.

Arkansas felony classes carry these ranges, from the top: Class Y, life or any term from 10 to 40 years; Class A, six to 30; Class B, five to 20; Class C, three to 10; Class D, as many as six. A break-in at a home is Class B burglary, while a break-in at a business is usually one class lower. Felony theft depends on the value of the property taken, drug delivery on the substance and quantity involved, and a fourth DWI inside ten years counts as a Class D felony. Many Lee County felony cases close with probation or a suspended term instead of prison.

When a juvenile is accused of a felony, the case usually stays in juvenile court, but once the accused turns 16, the prosecutor can file any felony straight into the criminal division. A transfer hearing lets either party ask the judge to move it. Within 72 hours of being locked up, a youth gets a detention hearing, and since Lee County has no juvenile detention center, detained Marianna youths are housed in another county’s facility. Probation, restitution, counseling and DYS commitment are among the dispositions a juvenile judge can choose.

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Killings and other crimes of violence (murder, including capital murder; rape; aggravated robbery)

Homicides, rapes and aggravated robberies pass through the same felony stages, with more investigation and higher stakes. Capital murder leads either to death row or to a life term that excludes parole. Class Y is the grade for rape, first-degree murder and aggravated robbery. The Protect Arkansas Act now requires, for crimes committed in 2025 or later, that convictions for aggravated robbery, rape and capital murder be served in full, and 85% for second-degree murder and some other violent crimes.

Arkansas still has the death penalty; approximately 23 men are awaiting execution, though none has been carried out since 2017, and nitrogen hypoxia was authorized as a method in 2025. Specially qualified defense lawyers are appointed in capital cases, and the court may decline to set bail on a capital charge supported by evident proof.

Crime victims in Arkansas have statutory rights to be kept informed, to be in the courtroom, to talk with the prosecutor and to speak before the sentence is set. Victims in Lee County can get help from the 1st District prosecutor’s victim-witness coordinator.

At 14 or 15, a teen may be charged as an adult in Lee County only for crimes on a short statutory list: murder, terroristic acts, kidnapping, first-degree battery, rape and aggravated robbery. For serious cases kept in juvenile court, the judge may use Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction, combining juvenile services with a suspended adult sentence. Minors at the time of the crime are ineligible for execution, and a 2017 state law ended life-without-parole sentences for juveniles.

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Lee County court offices

Both state courts share the Lee County Courthouse in Marianna:

  • Lee County Circuit Court: 15 East Chestnut Street, Marianna, AR 72360, circuit clerk 870-295-7710
  • Lee County District Court: Room 9, 15 East Chestnut Street, Marianna, AR 72360, 870-295-7730
  • Court days: district court sits twice a month on a Monday

The district court hears misdemeanors, traffic, ordinance cases and the opening stage of felonies. Felony trials, juvenile cases and appeals of district court rulings go to circuit court, and appeals are tried anew.

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Federal court for Lee County

Lee County federal cases belong to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Delta Division, at the federal courthouse in Helena, 617 Walnut Street, Helena, AR 72342 (clerk questions go to Little Rock), 501-604-5351.

  • A magistrate judge handles the initial appearance.
  • Pretrial services prepares a background report.
  • The government may seek detention until trial.
  • Felonies move ahead on a grand jury indictment.
  • Anyone held is in U.S. Marshals custody: U.S. Marshals Service, 600 West Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201, 501-324-6256.

A single incident may produce charges in Marianna and in federal court, and each case runs separately.

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Inmate searches for Lee County

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ICE detainers in Lee County

ICE can ask the Marianna jail, through a detainer, to keep a person as long as 48 hours beyond a scheduled release, and weekends and holidays count. Nothing stops the county case in the meantime.

The ICE New Orleans Field Office, 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360 oversees Arkansas, and Delta detainees 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

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

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Lee County’s criminal process is summarized here for general understanding; none of it is legal advice. A defense lawyer should be consulted about any specific charge, and the Lee County Circuit Clerk, reachable at (870) 295-7710, can explain how public defenders are requested.

Before the trip to Marianna, call the circuit clerk at 870-295-7710 regarding felony or juvenile settings, or Room 9's district court office at 870-295-7730 about misdemeanor and traffic dates.

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Every detail on this page is checked by hand, not scraped. This unofficial directory helps friends and family of incarcerated individuals find critical information — inmate lists, locations, bail resources, visitation hours, rules, and text, phone, email, and mail services — for jails, detention centers, and prisons across the United States.