A brief history of the Lonoke County Sherrif's office

January 20-26, 2014

Follow the Lonoke County Sheriff’s office in dates.

On July 26, 1873 the headlines in the Lonoke Democrat read, LONOKE NEEDS A JAIL! The first prisoner of Lonoke County, Daniel Cook, who was sentenced by Justice Morris of Gumwoods township to three months imprisonment in Lonoke’s “taterhouse” escaped. He was charged a fine of $50 for fighting. 

The next year the first county jail was built on the south half of lot 11 in block 4. It was a log structure built by the contractor, A. Washmood, for the sum of $3750. In April of 1876, two prisoners, Ed Blood, charged with murder, and Kelly Murphy, arrested for horse stealing were confined therein. 

Blood was fastened with a chain to the floor. Some outside party assisted Murphy to burn a hole through the door large enough to enable them to make their escape. Blood was liberated form his chains by Murphy, after which both escaped. The two left the jail on fire and it subsequently burned to the ground.

In 1883 the Lonoke Democrat reported that a new jail would cost $600 to $900

to build. The design was of an ordinary frame house and would use the cells that are now in the old jail house at Brownsville.

Mr. and Mrs. W.F. James executed a deed to the county for all of block 20 in 1889. The result was a two-story brick building, with the dwelling portion below and the jail above, the latter provided with steel cells. Construction cost was $11,000.

Unfortunately for the Sherriff’s office, the Lonoke Democrat reported in 1891 that nearly all the prisoners confined in the county jail escaped due to Deputy Sheriff Tygart carelessly leaving the keys in a door cell.  

According to the Lonoke Democrat that same year, the old iron cells which have resided in the field at Brownsville since 1868 were hauled to Lonoke. 

The jail of Prairie county was torn down by federal soldiers during the war and the cells remained untouched. For years the iron bars were used for a corn crib by a farmer who owned the land on which they remained. Those cages were used in building a calaboose for the town.

Lonoke County received a new $195,000 courthouse and jail in 1928. The structure was four stories high with the jail constructed on the top floor. The old jail was destroyed to make room for the courthouse.

In 2008, County Judge Charlie Troutman, and building chairman Larry Odom along with the Quorum Court voted to present to the voters a one cent tax to build a new county jail and Sherriff’s office with an estimated price of nearly 6 million dollars. 

Today Lonoke can proudly boast of a state of the art 136 bed detention facility, sheriff’s office, and courtroom.

Source: Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office