In Sevier County, misdemeanor cases from De Queen, Horatio and the countryside all head to Room 215 at the courthouse. Officers commonly hand out a citation rather than making a custodial arrest. Someone held at the Robinson Road jail goes in front of a judge without unnecessary delay, as the Arkansas procedure rules require, and if officers acted with no warrant, a judge reviews their grounds within two days. Most misdemeanor defendants go home on a signed promise or a modest bond.

State law sorts misdemeanors into Class A, B and C. Class A crimes, such as third-degree battery or stealing items worth $1,000 or less, carry a possible twelve months in the county jail, with fines reaching $2,500. Class B crimes carry 90 days and $1,000 at most. Class C crimes, including most trespassing, are limited to 30 days and $500. DWI on a first conviction is not classed; the sentence must include at least 24 hours in jail and can reach one year, plus a fine of $150 to $1,000 and a suspended license.

In De Queen, the district judge alone decides misdemeanor trials. A defendant found guilty has a 30-day window to appeal upstairs to circuit court, which wipes the slate clean and can impanel a jury. Many cases end in plea bargains, fines and probation, or dismissal. People too poor for private counsel can get a court-appointed lawyer; judges may charge the defendant something toward the cost, though never over $400. Court interpreters are provided for people who speak limited English.

Children under 18 who are accused of a misdemeanor are generally sent to the juvenile division of the Sevier County Circuit Court, not district court, though district court may still hear certain traffic and underage tobacco tickets. For first-time offenders, the prosecutor and juvenile intake staff may agree to diversion or an informal resolution that avoids a delinquency finding if the youth completes the required conditions. Juveniles who face a petition are entitled to counsel.

People arrested on felonies in Sevier County appear first before a judge at the De Queen courthouse. That hearing deals with three things: whether there was probable cause to arrest, how much bond will be required, and whether the defendant needs a court-appointed lawyer. Arkansas’s constitution treats bail as a right, with an exception only for capital charges resting on strong evidence. Families either put up the money themselves or pay a licensed bondsman’s premium, which stays with the bondsman.

The Ninth–West District Prosecuting Attorney brings formal felony charges by information, filed with the circuit clerk, rather than through a grand jury. The circuit judge arraigns the defendant in De Queen during scheduled court weeks, and the case then goes through discovery, plea discussions and pretrial motions. Speedy-trial Rule 28.1 sets the outer limit at one year, minus legally excluded delay, and a person jailed nine months without trial is entitled to release on conditions. A felony jury is made up of 12 people from the county.

How much prison? For Class D, as long as six years. For Class C, a three-year minimum and ten-year maximum. Class B means five to twenty years and Class A six to thirty, while Class Y starts at ten years and runs to forty or to life. Theft turns felonious above $1,000 and reaches Class B status at $25,000. Burglary of a home is Class B. Four DWI convictions within ten years turn the newest into a felony. For delivery offenses, the drug’s identity and weight determine the class. Felony cases in Sevier County typically end with plea agreements, with sentences from probation to prison, within six months to a year.

Teenagers aged 16 and 17 who are accused of felonies can be charged in juvenile court or in adult court, at the prosecutor’s option. A judge can transfer the case in either direction on clear and convincing evidence after a hearing. When a teen is held in secure detention, a judge has three days (72 hours) to decide whether the hold continues. Juvenile judges in De Queen may choose probation or, for more serious cases, a Division of Youth Services placement.

Such cases move through the usual felony steps, but judges can deny bail for capital murder and usually set high bonds for other violent felonies. Jurors in a capital murder case pick between two outcomes: execution, or prison for life with no parole. First-degree murder takes the Class Y grade, and so do rape and aggravated robbery when charged in De Queen or anywhere else in Arkansas; second-degree murder carries the Class A range. For a crime on or after the first day of 2025, the Protect Arkansas Act keeps people convicted of capital murder, rape and aggravated robbery in prison for every day of the term, and attaches an 85% minimum to many other violent crimes.

Arkansas has carried out no execution since April 2017, but lawmakers in 2025 gave the prison system a second method, nitrogen gas, beside the drug protocol. Capital cases require specially qualified defense counsel. In Sevier County, a murder charge can stay open for a year or longer before a plea or trial.

Arkansas law lets violent-crime victims and their relatives learn of each hearing, attend, speak before the sentence, and seek repayment. A victim-witness coordinator in the prosecutor’s office walks families through each step.

Arkansas allows adult charges against youths as young as 14 for any of seven listed offenses, from capital murder and rape down to first-degree battery and a terroristic act. A judge may choose Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction instead, keeping the case in juvenile court but adding a suspended adult sentence. The death penalty is never available for juvenile offenders, and Arkansas law since 2017 allows a parole hearing after 30 years for someone convicted of a capital murder committed as a juvenile.

Both Sevier County courts sit in one De Queen courthouse:

• Circuit Court and Circuit Clerk: 115 North 3rd Street, De Queen, AR 71832, 870-584-3055
• Sevier County District Court: 115 North 3rd Street, Room 215, De Queen, AR 71832, 870-584-7311

District court starts traffic, misdemeanor and early felony matters. Felony trials, youth cases and appeals belong to circuit court. Families waiting on a release can turn to our De Queen bond guide and to the jail roster search. Booking and release steps are laid out on our De Queen inmates page.

Sevier County sits on the Oklahoma line in southwest Arkansas, and De Queen, the county seat, is where nearly every criminal case from Horatio, Lockesburg, Gillham and Ben Lomond ends up. The Sevier County Courthouse, 115 N. 3rd Street, De Queen, AR 71832, holds both levels of state court. Under that one roof are:

• The Sevier County Circuit Court, where felonies are tried, juvenile cases are heard and district court convictions are appealed. Circuit clerk: (870) 584-3055
• The Sevier County District Court, Room 215, for misdemeanors, traffic offenses and initial felony hearings. Court clerk: (870) 584-7311

Circuit judges for De Queen also ride to Nashville, Ashdown and Murfreesboro, because Sevier shares the Ninth Judicial Circuit–West with Howard, Little River and Pike counties. Voters in those four counties also elect one Prosecuting Attorney, whose office charges both felonies and state-law misdemeanors. Sheriff’s arrests are booked at the county jail on West Robinson Road in De Queen.

This overview of Sevier County criminal cases cannot replace a lawyer's advice. If you face charges, retain a defense lawyer, or phone the Sevier County Circuit Clerk at (870) 584-3055 about requesting a public defender.

Phone the jail (870-642-2125) to confirm custody, then reach the district court clerk (870-584-7311) on tickets and misdemeanors, or the circuit clerk (870-584-3055) on felonies and youth cases.

Phone the sheriff's office in De Queen at 870-642-2125; it serves warrants throughout the county and can tell you whether one is open. Court filings from around Arkansas are searchable at Search ARCourts, the judiciary's public case lookup. To clear a warrant, a defense lawyer can usually arrange for you to report to the jail on West Robinson Road and ask the judge to set bond beforehand. The Circuit Clerk handles felony records at 870-584-3055. Spanish-speaking families may want to ask for an interpreter when they call, which staff can usually arrange.

On the federal side, Sevier County is grouped with Texarkana, one of six divisions in Arkansas’s western federal district. Its courtroom is in Texarkana’s combined federal courthouse and post office (500 N. State Line Avenue, Texarkana, AR 71854), which sits squarely on the state line with Texas; because the Texarkana office is not staffed, questions go to the clerk in Fort Smith at 1-833-853-0345. Two governments, two rulebooks. Arkansas’s criminal code covers the theft, DWI, assault and drug cases that fill the De Queen docket, prosecuted by the district’s elected prosecutor. U.S. law, enforced by the U.S. Attorney and federal agencies, covers conduct like moving drugs from Texas or Oklahoma through the county for sale elsewhere, unlawful reentry after deportation and other immigration crimes, gun possession by a convicted felon, bank robbery and mail or wire fraud. One incident can occasionally result in charges in both courts.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas hears Sevier County's federal cases in Texarkana, at the federal courthouse in Texarkana, 500 North State Line Avenue, Texarkana, AR 71854, 833-853-0345.

• Day one in federal court means a magistrate judge.
• Pretrial services reports to the judge about the defendant's background.
• Federal prosecutors may seek to keep the person in jail.
• A grand jury hands up most federal felony charges.
• Anyone held on a federal case is in U.S. Marshals custody: U.S. Marshals Service, 30 South 6th Street, Fort Smith, AR 72901, 479-289-7470 or 479-424-5000 (call either).

Families heading to the Texarkana courthouse should plan the trip from the address given above.

• Sevier County Jail: Sevier County Inmate Search. Lists people booked at the Robinson Road jail.
• VINE: VINELink (https://vinelink.vineapps.com/). Choose Arkansas to search every county.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons: Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/). Enter a BOP register number or the inmate's name.
• Arkansas Division of Correction: Arkansas Division of Correction Inmate Search (https://apps.ark.org/inmate_info/). Shows anyone in an Arkansas prison by name or ADC number.

ICE may file a detainer asking the De Queen jail to hold someone up to 48 hours past release, with weekends and holidays counted. The Arkansas charge continues regardless.

The ICE New Orleans Field Office, 181 James Drive W, St. Rose, LA 70087, 504-318-2360 covers Arkansas, and people ICE detains from this corner of the state often end up in 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

The ICE Online Detainee Locator System (https://locator.ice.gov/odls/) needs an A-number, or the detainee's full name with their home country.