Editing Jefferson County, Arkansas (section)

==Government and infrastructure==

=== Government ===
The county government is a constitutional body granted specific powers by the [[Constitution of Arkansas]] and the [[Arkansas Code]]. The quorum court is the legislative branch of the county government and controls all spending and revenue collection. Representatives are called ''justices of the peace'' and are elected from county districts every even-numbered year. The number of districts in a county vary from nine to fifteen, and district boundaries are drawn by the county election commission. The Jefferson County Quorum Court has thirteen members. Presiding over quorum court meetings is the ''county judge'', who serves as the [[chief operating officer]] of the county. The county judge is elected at-large and does not vote in quorum court business, although capable of vetoing quorum court decisions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Quorum Courts |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/quorum-courts-6348/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Office of County Judge |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/office-of-county-judge-5720/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |language=en-US}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+Jefferson County, Arkansas Elected countywide officials<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Jefferson {{!}} Association of Arkansas Counties |url=https://www.arcounties.org/counties/jefferson/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Arcounties.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.arcounties.org/site/assets/files/6033/november_races.pdf|format=PDF|title=2022 General Election County, District Officials|website=Arcounties.org|access-date=2025-05-14}}</ref>
!Position
!Officeholder
!Party
|-style="background-color:#92C5DE;
|[[County judge|County Judge]]
|Gerald Robinson
|Democratic
|-style="background-color:#92C5DE;
|[[Municipal clerk|County Clerk]]
|Shawndra Taggart
|Democratic
|-style="background-color:#92C5DE;
|[[Court clerk|Circuit Clerk]]
|Flora Cook Bishop
|Democratic
|-style="background-color:#92C5DE;
|[[Sheriff]]
|Lafayette Woods Jr.
|Democratic
|-style="background-color:#92C5DE;
|[[Treasurer]]
|Vonysha Goodwin
|Democratic
|-style="background-color:#92C5DE;
|[[Tax collector|Collector]]
|Tony Washington
|Democratic
|-style="background-color:#92C5DE;
|[[Tax assessment|Assessor]]
|Gloria Tillman
|Democratic
|-style="background-color:#92C5DE;
|[[Coroner]]
|Chad Kelley
|Democratic
|}
The composition of the Quorum Court following the 2024 elections is 9 Democrats and 4 Republicans. Justices of the Peace (members) of the Quorum Court following the elections are:<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Jefferson County, Arkansas, elections, 2024 |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Jefferson_County,_Arkansas,_elections,_2024 |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Ballotpedia.org|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.fox16.com/election-day-2024-jefferson-county/|title=Election Day 2024 - Jefferson County|website=Fox16.com|access-date=May 14, 2025}}</ref>

* District 1: Rev. Alfred Carroll Sr. (D) of Pine Bluff
* District 2: Reginald Adams (D) of Pine Bluff
* District 3: Reginald Johnson (D)
* District 4: Patricia Royal Johnson (D) of Pine Bluff
* District 5: Jimmy Fisher Sr. (D)
* District 6: Margerette Williams (D) of Pine Bluff
* District 7: Melanie Johnson Dumas (D) of Pine Bluff
* District 8: Roy Agee (R)
* District 9: Cedric Jackson (D) of Pine Bluff
* District 10: Dr. Conley F. Byrd Jr. (R) of Redfield
* District 11: Danny Holcomb (R) of Pine Bluff
* District 12: Ted Harden (R) of White Hall
* District 13: Brenda Bishop Gaddy (D) of Altheimer

Additionally, the townships of Jefferson County are entitled to elect their own respective constables, as set forth by the [[Constitution of Arkansas]]. Constables are largely of historical significance as they were used to keep the peace in rural areas when travel was more difficult.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is a Constable? |url=https://www.uaex.uada.edu/business-communities/ced-blog/posts/2022/may/what-is-a-constable.aspx |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Uaex.uada.edu |language=en}}</ref> The township constables as of the 2024 elections are:<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

* Barraque: Richard Debill (R)
* Jefferson: Scott A. Dunn (R)
* Melton: Turner Nowlin (R)
* Spring: Clyde McDaniel (R)
* Talladega: Michale Slayton (R)
* Vaugine: Deshawn Bennett (D)
* Washington: Otho Anderson III (R)

=== Infrastructure ===
The state has built a number of correctional facilities in and near Pine Bluff, and moved the headquarters of the [[Arkansas Department of Corrections]] (ADC) to here in 1979.<ref>"[http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/pdf/facts_brochure2006.pdf 2006 Facts Brochure] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806120702/http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/pdf/facts_brochure2006.pdf |date=2009-08-06 }}." [[Arkansas Department of Correction]]. July 1, 2005-June 30, 2006. 25 (25/38). Retrieved on August 15, 2010.</ref><ref>"[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/MapItDrawServlet?geo_id=16000US0555310&_bucket_id=50&tree_id=420&context=saff&_lang=en&_sse=on Pine Bluff city, Arkansas]{{Dead link|date=July 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}." [[U.S. Census Bureau]]. Retrieved on September 7, 2010.</ref><ref>"[http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/facilities.html#central Central Office] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201100752/http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/facilities.html |date=December 1, 2009 }}." [[Arkansas Department of Correction]]. Retrieved on June 28, 2010.</ref> The administrative Annex East is on Harding Avenue in Pine Bluff, south of city hall.<ref>"[http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/facilities/facilities1.html#annex Facilities]." [[Arkansas Department of Correction]]. Retrieved on June 28, 2010.</ref> The Diagnostic Unit,<ref>"[http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/facilities/facilities2.html#diagnostic Diagnostic Unit]." [[Arkansas Department of Correction]]. Retrieved on June 28, 2010.</ref> the Pine Bluff Unit, and the [[Randall L. Williams Correctional Facility]] are in the "Pine Bluff Complex" in Pine Bluff.<ref>"[http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/facilities/facilities5.html#pine Pine Bluff Unit/Randall L. Williams Correctional Facility]." [[Arkansas Department of Correction]]. Retrieved on June 28, 2010.</ref><ref name="PineBluffUnit">"[http://arkcs.arkansas.gov/schools/adc_pg3.html School Sites] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721032842/http://arkcs.arkansas.gov/schools/adc_pg3.html |date=July 21, 2011 }}." [[Arkansas Correctional School]]. Retrieved on July 18, 2010.</ref> The headquarters of the [[Arkansas Correctional School]] system are within the Pine Bluff Complex.<ref name="PineBluffUnit"/><ref>"[http://arkcs.arkansas.gov/contacts.html Contact Us] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623163947/http://arkcs.arkansas.gov/contacts.html |date=June 23, 2011 }}." [[Arkansas Correctional School]]. Retrieved on July 18, 2010.</ref>

The [[Arkansas Department of Community Correction]] Southeast Arkansas Community Corrections Center is in Pine Bluff.<ref>"[http://www.dcc.arkansas.gov/locations_area_offices_offices.html#A01rf Locations] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226104645/http://www.dcc.arkansas.gov/locations_area_offices_offices.html |date=2011-02-26 }}." [[Arkansas Department of Community Corrections]]. Retrieved on March 5, 2011. "7301 West 13th Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas 71602"</ref> The Maximum Security Unit is {{convert|25|mi|km}} north of central Pine Bluff and off [[Arkansas Highway 15]] in [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] Jefferson County.<ref>"[http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/facilities/facilities3.html#maximum Maximum Security Unit]." [[Arkansas Department of Correction]]. Retrieved on June 28, 2010.</ref> The [[Tucker Unit]] is also located north of Pine Bluff.<ref name="PBRandallTucker">"[http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/facilities/facilities5.html#pine Pine Bluff Unit/Randall L. Williams Correctional Facility/Tucker Unit]." [[Arkansas Department of Correction]]. Retrieved on June 28, 2010.</ref> Historically the Arkansas Boys' Industrial School and the [[Arkansas Negro Boys' Industrial School]] were in the county.<ref>{{Cite map|author1=Arkansas State Highway Commission|author-link=Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department|author2=United States Department of Agriculture|author2-link=United States Department of Agriculture|year=1936 |title=General Highway and Transportation Map, Jefferson County, Arkansas |url=http://www.arkansashighways.com/Maps/Counties/1936/mjeff36.tif |access-date=April 30, 2016 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031231010709/http://www.arkansashighways.com/Maps/Counties/1936/mjeff36.tif |archive-date=December 31, 2003 }}</ref>

===Politics===
Jefferson County is strongly [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] in races for president, governor, and the United States Senate. In the [[Reconstruction Era]], the county's majority black residents favored presidential candidates from the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] in every election from 1868 to 1888.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} In the early 1890s, white Southern Democrats passed laws to disenfranchise black voters from engaging in the political process, a process which ended by the 1960s, and blacks began to favor voting for Democrats and southern whites favored the Republicans. Since 1892, Democrats have carried the county in all but three presidential elections, when Republican [[William McKinley]] won it in 1900, [[American Independent Party]] candidate [[George Wallace]] won it in [[United States presidential election in Arkansas, 1968|1968]] and Republican [[Richard Nixon]] won it in [[United States presidential election in Arkansas, 1972|1972]], the latter whom carried every county in Arkansas. No Republican since [[George H. W. Bush]] in 1988 has won over 40% of the county's vote, although [[Joe Biden]] is the first Democrat since that year to get under 60% in the county.

In the style of many urban counties in the [[Barack Obama]] and post-Obama eras, the Democratic Party continues to enjoy a strong following in Jefferson County, even as the non-urban areas have deeply turned against the party.

{{PresHead|place=Jefferson County, Arkansas|source=<ref name="DL">{{cite web|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|access-date=November 18, 2016}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|8,468|12,802|338|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|9,521|14,981|656|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|9,250|15,772|872|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|9,520|17,470|393|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|10,655|18,465|569|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|10,218|19,675|600|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|8,765|17,716|720|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|6,330|19,701|1,646|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|7,525|21,819|2,348|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|12,520|16,664|568|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1984|Democratic|14,514|18,082|313|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|10,697|17,292|2,057|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|8,034|21,001|0|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|16,888|10,346|26|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|4,860|9,125|10,053|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|9,968|12,872|129|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|4,839|8,442|1,954|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|5,743|6,426|389|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|5,925|8,300|27|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|1,176|5,086|1,952|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|1,578|4,095|3|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|587|3,829|13|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|224|3,414|7|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|419|2,548|23|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|1,830|2,611|9|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|707|1,950|515|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|1,048|2,670|65|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|923|2,173|0|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|579|1,659|899|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1908|Democratic|1,386|1,585|154|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1904|Democratic|1,324|1,520|99|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|1,477|1,363|4|Arkansas}}
{{PresFoot|1896|Democratic|1,050|1,653|47|Arkansas}}