Logan County Detention Center Criminal Court Process

Logan County misdemeanor dockets: petty theft, first DWI, battery, trespass

Paris or Booneville? That depends on where the offense happened. Many people simply get a ticket with a date on it. If you are booked and held, you must see a judge without needless delay. For an arrest without a warrant, Arkansas gives a judge 48 hours, at most, to review probable cause. Bail is a constitutional right here except on capital charges. Misdemeanor defendants are often released on a promise to return. When a judge does require money, your family can post cash or use a bail company licensed by the state.

What can happen depends on the class. Third-degree battery is Class A. So is shoplifting when the merchandise totals $1,000 or less. Class A tops out at twelve months in the county jail; the fine can reach $2,500. Class B: ninety days, $1,000. Class C: thirty days, $500. Many trespass cases land in Class C. A first DWI follows its own scheme: at least a day in jail and up to a year; a fine from $150 to $1,000; and a license suspension. To keep driving, you will usually need an ignition interlock.

The district judge decides every trial; jurors are never used there. Lose, and you may appeal within thirty days. The circuit court then hears everything again from scratch, and a 12-person jury is available. Can’t pay a lawyer and face possible jail? You may request a public defender. The program runs on state money through the Arkansas Public Defender Commission. By statute, the court charges a user fee ranging from $10 to $400 unless that would be too great a burden. A plea, a dismissal or a fine settles most of them in a few months.

Minors take a separate path. A Logan County teen accused of shoplifting, a fight or something similar is ordinarily sent to the circuit court’s juvenile division. There, a juvenile officer or the prosecutor may offer diversion. Classes, an apology, restitution or community service can then close the matter without a delinquency finding. The district judge may still handle a minor’s driving ticket, curfew charge or underage alcohol or tobacco citation.

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Felony cases in Paris and Booneville, from break-ins and theft to drug sales and repeat DWI

Step one after a felony arrest: a judge checks probable cause and sets bond, often in the detention center courtroom in Paris. Step two: the prosecutor files a felony information. That written charge replaces a grand jury indictment in nearly every Arkansas case. It goes to whichever circuit court district covers the crime scene. Step three: arraignment. You plead not guilty, counsel is confirmed, and discovery starts. From there the clock runs. Under Rule 28.1, trial must start within a year, minus continuances your side requests.

The felony class sets the range a jury or judge may choose. Arkansas sets the ranges by class: Class D, up to 6 years; Class C, 3 to 10; Class B, 5 to 20; Class A, 6 to 30; and Class Y, 10 to 40 or life. Theft over $1,000 starts at Class D and climbs as the value rises. Burglary of a residence is Class B. A business break-in is Class C. Delivering meth, fentanyl or other drugs is graded by drug and weight, and the largest delivery cases reach Class Y. A fourth DWI within ten years becomes a felony worth one to six years. First-time felony defendants frequently get probation or a suspended imposition of sentence. Prior convictions push sentences toward prison, served in Arkansas Division of Correction units. Circuit juries seat twelve people, and in Arkansas they usually recommend the sentence too.

Are you 16 or 17? Then any felony can be filed against you in either the juvenile or adult division; state law leaves that to the prosecutor. At 14 or 15, adult filing is reserved for the worst offenses: first-degree battery, rape, kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and capital or first-degree murder among them. Prosecution or defense can then request a transfer hearing. For a detained youth it must happen within thirty days. The judge works through ten factors set by statute, such as maturity and the odds of rehabilitation before 21. Detained children see a judge within 72 hours. Should the case remain juvenile, a commitment to the Division of Youth Services is possible. For serious offenses, the judge can instead label it an Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction case, keeping an adult sentence in reserve.

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Violent felonies: capital murder or murder, rape, aggravated robbery

The gravest cases follow the same felony steps. They take longer, lean on more expert testimony, and often keep the accused jailed throughout. A capital defendant can be held with no bond at all when the evidence of guilt is strong. Most other violent charges draw high bonds.

Arkansas punishes capital murder in one of two ways: a death sentence, or life with no chance of parole. In April 2026, 23 men awaited execution. Arkansas’s last execution was in 2017. Lethal injection remains the primary method; nitrogen hypoxia was approved in 2025. Class Y covers first-degree murder, rape and aggravated robbery, so ten to forty years or life. Second-degree murder sits a step lower, in Class A. Under the Protect Arkansas Act, early release is gone for those three crimes (capital murder, rape, aggravated robbery) when committed on or after January 1, 2025. Second-degree murder and several other violent crimes now require at least 85% of the term. A rape conviction also triggers sex-offender registration. Expect one to two years before trial in Paris or Booneville.

If you are a victim, you may ask to be told about hearings, attend them, speak before sentencing, and receive restitution. Those protections appear in the state’s victims’ rights statutes, starting at Ark. Code 16-90-1101. The prosecutor’s staff can also help you apply for reparations through the Arkansas Attorney General.

Juveniles facing these charges are the likeliest to be tried as adults. Direct adult filing is allowed from age 14 for these crimes. Even then, a teen cannot receive the death penalty. Arkansas’s 2017 Fair Sentencing of Minors Act also ended life without parole for minors. After thirty years, that youth can seek parole.

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Logan County court offices

Logan County keeps two courthouses, one in Paris and one in Booneville, plus a courtroom at the sheriff's building:

• Circuit Court, Northern District: Logan County Courthouse, 25 West Walnut Street, Paris, AR 72855, circuit clerk 479-963-2164
• Circuit Court, Southern District: Logan County Courthouse, Booneville, circuit clerk 479-675-2894
• District Court, Paris: second floor, 25 West Walnut Street, Paris, 479-963-3792
• District Court, Booneville: 461 East 5th Street, Booneville, AR 72927, 479-675-4929
• District Court, Magazine: P.O. Box 367, Magazine, AR 72943, 479-969-8550
• Courtroom at the Sheriff's Office and Detention Center: 201 South Lowder Street, Paris, used for most Paris hearings other than jury trials

The district court handles misdemeanors, traffic and small claims, and it starts felony cases. Felony trials, juvenile matters and appeals from district court, each heard fresh, belong to circuit court.

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Federal court for Logan County

Federal charges from Logan County are heard in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Fort Smith Division, at the federal building in Fort Smith, 30 South 6th Street, Fort Smith, AR 72901, 833-853-0345.

• A magistrate judge presides over the opening hearing.
• Pretrial services sends the court a background report.
• Prosecutors may move to hold the defendant before trial.
• A grand jury indictment carries a felony forward.
• People in custody are held by the U.S. Marshals: U.S. Marshals Service, 30 South 6th Street, Fort Smith, AR 72901, 479-289-7470 or 479-424-5000 (call either).

A Logan County arrest can turn into a state case in Paris or Booneville and a federal case in Fort Smith at once.

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Inmate searches for Logan County

• Logan County Detention Center: Logan County Inmate Search. Enter a name to see who is held in Paris.
• VINE: VINELink (https://vinelink.vineapps.com/). With Arkansas chosen, find custody status and get alerts.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons: Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/). Search federal prisoners by their name or register number.
• Arkansas Division of Correction: Arkansas Division of Correction Inmate Search (https://apps.ark.org/inmate_info/). Look up the state unit holding a prisoner.

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ICE detainers in Logan County

ICE can file a detainer that asks the Paris jail to keep someone up to 48 hours after the time of release, and weekends and holidays count. The state case continues during that window.

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

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

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