Editing Cross County, Arkansas (section)

===Public safety===
[[File:City of Wynne, Arkansas police car.jpg|right|thumb|Wynne Police Department patrol car]]
The [[Cross County Sheriff's Office]] is the primary law enforcement agency in the county. The agency is led by the Cross County Sheriff, an official elected by countywide vote every four years. Police departments in Wynne and Cherry Valley provide law enforcement in their respective jurisdictions, with Hickory Ridge and Parkin contracting with the Cross County Sheriff's Office for law enforcement services.<ref>{{ cite web |title=Hickory Ridge residents search for way to hire police officer |first=Stephen |last= Hankins |date= January 16, 2003 |work=The Jonesboro Sun |location= Jonesboro |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&docref=news/13930D23EF0BE260 |access-date= December 13, 2020 |via=[[NewsBank]] }}</ref><ref>{{ cite web |title= Parkin mayor disbands police, cites cost |first=Kenneth |last= Heard |work=Arkansas Democrat-Gazette |location= Little Rock |publisher= WEHCO Media |date= April 9, 2016 |page= 9 |url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/apr/09/parkin-mayor-disbands-police-cites-cost-1/ |access-date= December 13, 2020 }}</ref>

The county is under the jurisdiction of the Cross County District Court, a [[Arkansas District Court|local district court]]. Local district courts in Arkansas are courts of [[original jurisdiction]] for criminal, civil, small claims, and traffic matters. Local district courts are presided over by an elected part-time judge who may privately practice law. The district court has three departments: Cherry Valley, Parkin, and Wynne. In 2021, the court will be merged into the 25th District [[state district court]], which includes St. Francis County.

Superseding district court jurisdiction is the [[Arkansas Circuit Courts|1st Judicial Circuit Court]], which covers Cross, Lee, Monroe, Phillips, St. Francis, and Woodruff counties. The First Circuit contains five circuit judges, elected to six-year terms circuit wide.

[[Fire protection]] is provided by seven agencies in Cross County, together covering the entire county. The four incorporated municipalities provide fire protection beyond their corporate limits. Rural areas are served by the Bay Village Volunteer Fire Department, Fair Oaks Volunteer Fire Department, and Vanndale Volunteer Fire Department.<ref>{{ cite map |author= GIS Applications Laboratory |title= Arkansas Fire Districts |year= 2019 |url=https://gislabualr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d54f8061ddaf444b8321bcaedb125d4c |format= SHP |publisher=[[Arkansas Economic Development Institute]], [[University of Arkansas at Little Rock]] |scale= Various |location= Little Rock, Arkansas |access-date= August 9, 2019 }}</ref> All fire departments in Cross County are volunteer-based, except the Wynne Fire Department.