News from the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office..
As Sheriff of Lawrence County I am writing this letter in support of the proposed half cent sales tax to be voted on November 10th of this year. I understand your concerns regarding any new tax regardless of its purpose. However, this has been an issue for many years and the time has come to make a decision whether to house our inmates here in our county, or to pay another county to do so. If the decision is made to close our jail it will be a costly one, not only for the county but for all cities within the county. I currently house approximately thirty five males and ten females, most of whom are awaiting transfer to the department of corrections. The cost for housing those inmates in another county would be approximately $16,100 a week and $64,400 a month. These figures do not include transportation to and from another county for court, medical appointments and any other movement of the inmate that may arise during their incarceration. Lawrence County, as well as the cities in the county, will be responsible for these costs. This would also mean that the citizens of our county would suffer slower response times due to their law enforcement officers being tied up transporting prisoners. The possibility of officers being out of county for hours at a time is very real. This would bring about more costs as additional officers would need to be hired to cover calls during this time.As your Sheriff, I know what closing our jail will do to this county. I am asking you to not let that happen. I believe we are on the verge of a population growth in the coming years, and the lack of a jail would change the way we as law enforcement deal with each incident we are called to. I want to continue to give you the service you deserve. Please vote yes to the proposed sales tax on November 10th. If you have any questions concerning this matter please feel free to call me at 870-886-2525.
Thank You
Sheriff Jeff Yates
October 7th, 2015 Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Yates delivered 170.65 pounds of unused/out of date prescription drugs to the Arkansas State Troop B Headquarters on Tuesday.
The pills were collected during the RX Takeback hosted several times a year by the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the National RX Takeback. This program helps to keep prescription drugs from being dumped in our trash services where they can be harmful to the environment. High levels of prescription meds have been detected in water tables across the United States from unused meds being thrown away in landfills. The RX Takeback has worked to reduce the risk of contamination as well as accidental poisoning from the pills being around households.
Officers from the Drug Enforcement Agency met the Lawrence County Sheriff at the Troop B Headquarters and took the drugs to be destroyed.
Lawrence County Auction scheduled Saturday, June 13th, 2015.
Lawrence County Judge Dale Freeman and Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Yates have commissioned Foley Auction Company to sell the following list of attached merchandise.
Details on attached flyer.
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