Message From The Sheriff
MESSAGE FROM SHERIFF
SHANE JONES  ( read )
Phone:
Emergency: 911
24 Hrs Non-Emergency:
479-968-2558
Detention Center:
479-968-5599
Crime Tips:
479-968-6545
Address:
#3 Emergency Lane
Russellville, AR 72802
Administrative Office Hours:
8:00am - 4:30pm M-F
FAQs

BODY ATTACHMENTS - What does this mean? Body Attachments are court orders usually issued in child support enforcement actions.  They are very similar to warrants of arrest that are issued in criminal cases. A Body Attachment orders and directs law enforcement officers to seize the body of the person named in the order and hold that person in custody pending further orders of the court. Most Body Attachments (but not all) will have language indicating that the person can be released from custody if a prescribed cash amount is paid to secure his release.  This amount may or may not equal the total of delinquent child support payments. Other Body Attachments will require the person to remain in custody until brought before the Judge who issued the order.  Body Attachments can be served in any part of the State, just as arrest warrants can. Any monies that the Sheriff's Office collects from Body Attachment actions will be held and distributed as later directed by the court or as prescribed under the law.


CHILD SAFETY SEAT - At what age does my child have to be in a child safety or booster seat? Arkansas Law requires that a child under six (6) years of age or sixty (60) pounds, be restrained in a child passenger seat properly secured to the vehicle.  Any child over six (6) and under fifteen (15) years of age must be secured in a seatbelt.


CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS - How do I obtain one? Criminal Background Checks - General: The Sheriff's Office may provide certain information to the public that is available for public disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.  This would include information from the Sheriff's Office Records Management System on Incident/Offense Reports, Accident Reports, Jail Booking Records, Warrant Records, Civil Process Records, and Citations.  Exceptions would be for records relating to active/ongoing investigations, certain personnel records, records that have been sealed/expunged by court order, and records involving juvenile offenders or juvenile suspects.  There are nominal fees associated with processing these requests.  The Sheriff's Office is prohibited by law from providing criminal history or background information of any kind from the Arkansas Crime Information Center database or the National Crime Information Center database.  In addition, we cannot provide information relating to records maintained by any other law enforcement agency.  You would need to contact those agencies directly for information from their records. The Arkansas State Police Identification Bureau in Little Rock can provide a more thorough criminal history check that encompasses all jurisdictions in Arkansas. Information on their procedures can be found on the Arkansas State Police web site at www.asp.state.ar.us


EVICTION - How do I evict someone or have them evicted? Eviction Procedures: In cooperation with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, we have established specific protocols we use in handling eviction procedures for persons who have failed or refused to pay rent.  While there may be other reasons for a landlord or property owner wanting to evict a tenant, the ONLY circumstances that the Sheriff’s Office can become involved in under the law is Eviction for Non-Payment of rent.  All other types of evictions for all other reasons must be handled through an attorney in civil court.  For cases of non-payment of rent, the renter/tenant must be served in person or by notice clearly posted, either by the landlord or by a Sheriff’s Deputy ($50.00 charge) with an Eviction Notice.  This notice will give the renter/tenant ten (10) days from the day of service to vacate the premises. Any further proceedings would be only by direction of the District Court Judge. _______________________________________________________________________

FINGERPRINTS - How can I be fingerprinted for work/job purposes? Fingerprints: The Sheriff’s Office will fingerprint persons upon request as part of pre-employment criminal history background checks on Tuesdays and Thursdays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.  The person will need to go to the front lobby of the sheriff's office for printing.  We do not fingerprint after office hours or during weekends or holidays. POLICE REPORTS - How do I get a copy? Obtaining Copies of Reports and Records: Most Sheriff’s Office records are public information under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act and are available for public viewing, and for copying for a nominal fee.  There are several exceptions to this, including specifically reports and paperwork relating to criminal cases remaining open and under investigation, certain personnel records, records sealed/expunged by court order, and records relating to juveniles (under 18 years of age).  We will not compile statistical or comparative data for individuals, nor will Administration Staff offer comment on reports or documents prepared and filed by individual deputies. Accident Reports: Patrol deputies prepare traffic accident reports on accidents they have investigated on county roads.  These reports are filed with clerical staff within five (5) days of the date of the accident.  There is a $10.00 fee for copies of these reports. Although deputies frequently arrive at accident scenes on Arkansas State Highways and U. S. Highways to assist the State Police, the deputy will generally not investigate the accident himself.  That is the responsibility of the State Police under the law. Reports from those accidents are filed with the Arkansas State Police Headquarters, and they are not available from the Sheriff’s Office.


PROTECTION ORDERS - How do I get one and when do they go into effect? ORDERS OF PROTECTION: A. Orders issued by the Circuit Court to protect victims in Domestic Violence situations. B. To be eligible, the victim must have been in a “Domestic Type Relationship” with the offender, within the definition of the law.  The definition includes married people, people related within the 4th degree of consanguinity, people who have lived together, had a child together, or have been in a dating relationship.  Parents or advocates may also obtain, or assist in obtaining, Orders of Protection on behalf of others in some circumstances. C. Application/Petition forms to obtain Orders of Protection are available through the victim coordinator at the prosecuting attorney’s office on the 4th floor of the courthouse.

  1. There are no costs associated with this order, no filing fees, no service fees. E. The completed application form is presented to a Circuit Judge for review. F. If the application is approved, the Circuit Judge will issue an Ex Parte (Temporary) Order of Protection.  This Order will be delivered to the Sheriff’s Office to be served on the offender.  The Order has no validity and cannot be enforced until and unless the offender has been served with the Order. G. When the offender is served, the Order will specify a court hearing date and time.  The offender may appear to challenge the Order at that time. H. At the time of the hearing, the Judge may make the order permanent (up to 10 years), may modify the provisions of the order, or may drop or terminate the temporary order. I. The order may award temporary custody of children or dependents to the applicant/victim, may order spousal support, may award temporary possession of a residence or personal property, and may prevent the offender from having any contact with the victim, the victim’s children, family, or etc. J. Any person who violates any provision of the Order of Protection has committed a crime, specifically a Class A Misdemeanor, the punishment for which is up to a $1,000 fine and/or up to one (1) year in jail.  The Judge issuing the Order can also punish for Contempt of Court. K. Officers may make an arrest without a warrant if there is probable cause to believe the Order of Protection has been violated or broken by the offender. L. Mutual (two-way) Orders of Protection are not permitted, however the parties involved may obtain separate Order of Protection against one another if grounds exist to convince a Judge to grant them. Victims of Domestic Violence are encouraged to apply for Orders of Protection, because it is a crime to violate them.  This gives law enforcement much greater authority to enforce the provisions of these orders and results in a new charge being filed.  The same cannot be said for violating other kinds of orders. RESTRAINING ORDERS: A. These are civil court orders generally issued in divorce cases. B. There are filing fees and service fees involved, and the services of attorney are generally required to obtain a Restraining Order. C. A person who defies the provisions of a Restraining Order has not committed a criminal offense.  The remedy for violating a Restraining Order is to petition the court to hold the offender/violator in Contempt of Court, the punishment for which is generally a small civil fine. Restraining Orders are generally ineffective in Domestic Violence cases because they have no real teeth to them. NO CONTACT ORDERS: A. Any person taken into custody for a criminal offense resulting from a Domestic Violence incident will generally be issued a standing No Contact Order at the time of his or her release from custody.  This order is issued as a condition of bail or condition of release. B. The order remains in effect until lifted or terminated by a Judge, but can generally be valid for no more than two (2) years. C. A person who violates a No Contact Order has not committed a crime, rather he or she has violated the conditions of bail or release and can be taken back into custody by the officer until appearing in person before a Judge. The bail is basically revoked.

WARRANT OF ARREST - How do I find out if I have a warrant for my arrest? What do I do if I have one? The Sheriff's Office maintains thousands of Warrants of Arrest issued by the District Court and Circuit Court.  All of these warrants constitute public records under the Freedom of Information Act.  Any person can obtain information on arrest warrants pertaining to himself or herself or any other person by placing a phone call to the Sheriff's Office.  Such information as the date of the warrant, charge(s)specified on the warrant, bond amount, and issuing court can be provided. Many arrest warrants are served by deputies working in the field, either during vehicle stops or by visiting the last known home address or work address of the person named in the warrant. Other warrants are served when people voluntarily surrender themselves to the Sheriff's Office after learning a warrant exists for their arrest. Most warrants will have a bond specified by the court that a person in custody is required to post before being released.  Other warrants are "No Bond" warrants, and the person must remain in custody until appearing before a Judge for further proceedings. On those warrants that have a bond amount specified, the Sheriff's Office will accept either cash for the bond or a surety bond issued by a professional licensed bail bonding company. The Pope County Sheriff’s Office does not issue Property Bonds.

Misdemeanor arrest warrants may be served anywhere in the State of Arkansas.  Felony arrest warrants are extraditable from anywhere within the United States.  The Sheriff's Office is very aggressive in serving arrest warrants, and extradition will generally be authorized whenever we are notified a person is in custody in another jurisdiction on a Pope County warrant. Any person wanting information about an arrest warrant or how to take care of an active warrant should contact the Sheriff's Office at 479-968-8787. We will make every effort to make a reasonable accommodation to allow the person satisfy the warrant within the boundaries of the law and department policy.


SEX OFFENDERS - What are the different levels and what do they mean? Convicted Sex Offenders are required by law to register with law enforcement.  The Saline County Sheriff's Office is the law enforcement agency that handles the registration process of all Sex Offenders who reside in Pope County with the exception of those that reside within the any City limits. There are four (4) levels of Sex Offenders under Arkansas Law. The levels represent the likelihood the Offender will re-offend. Level 1 - Least likely to re-offend Level 2 - Moderate risk to re-offend Level 3 - High Risk to re-offend Level 4 - Sexually Violent Predator A convicted Sex Offender, who is assigned a risk level of 1, 2, or 3, is required to come in to the Sheriff's Office every 6 months to re-register.  A level 4 Sex Offender is required to come in every 3 months to re-register. When a Sex Offender moves into the State of Arkansas, they are required to be evaluated before they are assigned a risk level.  This process sometimes will take several months or longer before the State assigns a risk level.  Law Enforcement is not allowed to notify the public UNTIL a risk level has been assigned by the State of Arkansas.


SEX OFFENDERS - What or who determines which sex offenders go on the website? The Pope County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for notifying the public of where Registered Sex Offenders live.  Under Arkansas Law, we are only allowed to do public notification for Level 3 and Level 4 Sex Offenders. In 2007, a law was passed allowing us to do public notification on Level 2 Sex Offenders IF the Sex Offender was 18 years of age or older and the Victim was age 14 or under when the crime was committed. It is the belief of the Pope County Sheriff’s Office, that an informed public is a safer public. We will continue to do everything in our power to protect our children and our community.

 

 

 
Press Releases