The Crittenden County Detention Center in West Memphis, Crittenden County, Arkansas, is a local jail facility operated by the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Office. It is a 350 bed facility, which houses adult male and female detainees for both misdemeanor and felony violations.  Juvenile detainees are located at a separate, but associated facility, which is separate, both physically and functionally, from the adult facility.

The Crittenden County Detention Center is run by Ronnie Coleman, the Jail Administrator.  The Jail Administrator is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Detention Center, which is under the supervision of the Sheriff’s Office.  The Jail Administrator’s job is to ensure that the facility is run well, and safety, of the inmates and the staff, is the top priority.

The Crittenden County Detention Center is focused on reducing recidivism rates by increasing employability once an inmate is released from detention.  There are two ways that the jail works to do this.  The first is by having a work-release program; the second is through an education program.

Inmates who work with the work release program can work for government organizations that use inmate labor for projects.  The inmates do not get paid for their labor, but can work towards a reduction in time served.  In addition to providing a benefit to the inmates, this provides a dual benefit to the county because the labor is free and the shortened sentence means a shorter period of financial responsibility for the inmate’s care.

The education program begins with a standard Adult GED program.  This program is available for non-violent offenders.  The goal is to improve education, and thereby increase employability.  While the Adult GED program is offered through the Crittenden County Detention Center, it is part of an outreach program managed by the MidSouth Community College.  Classes are morning and evening, three-to-four days each week.  Class size is limited to a maximum of 10 people.  Each year, approximately 20 individuals receive their GEDs through this program.

Juvenile detainees are required to attend school when confined in the county, but do not participate in the same GED program as adult offenders.  Instead, they attend a school program that is provided by the Marion School District.  They are separate from the adult offenders at all times, including during school times.

Like many local jail facilities, the Crittenden County Detention Center serves multiple purposes.  It is both a temporary housing facility for pre-trial detainees and a post-conviction housing center for some convicted defendants.  Pre-trial detainees are those inmates being held awaiting resolution of their case through trial or plea-bargaining. Post-conviction inmates are those awaiting sentencing after their trials or who have been sentenced; they may be detained at Crittenden County Detention Center long term or they may be moved to another facility.   Post-sentencing inmates are inmates that have been sentenced to serve out their jail terms at the Crittenden County Detention Center.

As a mixed short-and-long term facility, Crittenden County Detention Center faces some challenges.  It has to be able to handle any type of inmate.  Therefore, it must be able to process, evaluate, and screen inmates in order to determine the best housing arrangement for the inmate and for the facility. Initial housing assignments at intake may change during the course of an inmate’s confinement, due to changes in what the facility knows about the inmate, including additional pre-screening information and the inmate’s behavior while at the Crittenden County Detention Center.

Crittenden County Detention Center Addresses

Physical Address

Crittenden County Detention Center
350 Afco Road
West Memphis, AR 72301

Mailing Address

The Crittenden County Jail mailing address is:

Crittenden County Detention Center
350 Afco Road
West Memphis, AR 72301

Inmate Mailing Address

To send inmate mail via the U.S. Postal Service, you send it to the following address:

Inmate Name
c/o Crittenden County Sheriff Department
350 Afco Road
West Memphis, AR 72301

You must include a full return address on any mail sent to the jail, including your full name and mailing address.

Inmates are allowed to receive regular mail via the USPS. 

The Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department does not post its inmate mail rules online.  However, generally there are very specific rules that apply to inmate mail.  The rules have multiple purposes.  The primary purpose is to prevent contraband material from coming into the jail facility.  Contraband material includes any material that it is illegal for inmates to own in addition to any material that the jail staff considers inflammatory or likely to cause any type of disruption at the jail facility.  If you send contraband, not only do you risk the mail being confiscated and your ability to mail the inmate being terminated, but you could also face potential prosecution for sending contraband to a jail facility.  Therefore, we recommend the following guidelines for mail:

-Use standard, white 8 ½ x 11 paper;
-Do not send third party mail, either from a third party to the person who is incarcerated or from the inmate to a third party;
-Include your complete return address, including full name and mail address, on the outside of the envelope;
-Do not include any foreign substances or liquids on the envelope including perfume, lipsticks, or bodily fluids;
-Do not include any violent material;
-Do not include any gang references;
-No musical cards;<
-No plastic cards;
-No Polaroid photos;
-No plastic or plastic-coated pictures;
-No sexually oriented material;
-And nothing that could be construed as part of an escape plan, like photos or drawings of the jail facility, nearby bus schedules, guard rotation schedules, etc.;

While inmates can generally receive books and magazines, they are usually limited to getting them directly from a bookstore or publisher, which will ship them directly to the jail facility.

Phone Numbers

The main contact number for the Crittenden County Jail is 870-702-2010.  The number of commissary is 870-702-2096.  The number to schedule visitation is 870-702-2052.  Do not call any other numbers to schedule visitation.

Crittenden County Jail Roster

Crittenden County Jail has a jail roster.  It appears as an alphabetized list of inmates.  Each entry in the roster contains a mugshot, name, age, date of birth, crime charged, date and time of arrest, and the inmate’s bond amount, if any.  While the roster appears in alphabetical order, you can also select to have it display inmates by the date of arrest.  If you do this, then the inmates appear in order of most recent to least recent arrest.  This gives you a list of recent bookings and arrests, as well as the other details about the arrest.

Jail Visitation

All visitors must comply with visitation rules at all times or the visit may be terminated and the visitor’s visitation privileges may be revoked.

Visitation at the Crittenden County Detention Facility is video visitation.  The visitation is provided through City Tele-Coin.

There are two ways that you can do video visitation.  You can visit at the video booths located at the Detention Facility or you can set up remote visitation.

Visits are by appointment only.  You schedule appointments by calling a dedicated visitation phone number, 870-702-2052.  You must make an appointment each week that you intend to visit, and visits are scheduled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Visitation is done Monday through Saturday.  There are no Sunday visitations.  Inmates get 1 15-minute visitation each week.

The Crittenden County Detention Center has posted the following rules for visitation:

-Visitors must register with the Correctional Officer in charge of the visitation.
-All visitors must have a state issued identification.
-Disruptive noise or behavior, including, but not limited to, arguing, loud talking and the use of profanity are not permitted, and will result in the visitation session being terminated.
-All visitors are required to wear appropriated dress. Prohibited items include items that are too short, too revealing, halter tops, tube tops, and transparent or sheer clothing.
-No revealing private parts during visitation.
-Minor visitors (under the age of 18) must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and are not to be left unattended at any time. Birth certificate or proof of legal guardianship is required.
-No personal items such as cell phones, cameras, video equipment and any form of electronic device, purses, handbags, back packs, etc. are permitted into the Detention Facility.
-No visitors that have “No Contact Orders” issued from the court will be allowed to visit the inmate.
-No smoking.
-No loitering.
-No person under the influence of drugs or alcohol may visit; you may be arrested if you attempt to visit while under the influence. 

Visitation is scheduled by inmate last name.  The schedule is the same for male and female inmates:

Tuesday
• Inmates with last names beginning with A-F  08:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. To 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday
• Inmates with the last names beginning with G-L 08:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. To 3:30 p.m.

Thursday
• Inmates with the last names beginning with M-R 08:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. To 3:30 p.m.

Friday
Inmates with the last names beginning with S-Z 08:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. To 3:30 p.m

Inmate Phone Privileges

Crittenden County Detention Center inmates cannot receive incoming calls, but can place outgoing collect calls during approved hours.  If you need to reach an inmate in an emergency, you can contact the jail.  The jail staff will then determine if the emergency warrants emergency contact with the inmate.  While you will not be put on the phone with the inmate, they may choose to relay a message or to tell the inmate to call you.  You may be asked to provide verification of the emergency situation.

To receive collect calls from an inmate, you have to set up an account with the jail’s phone service provider.  That provider is City Telecoin.  You can reach them at 1-800-682-0707.

Trust Accounts / Commissary

Crittenden County Jail provides commissary services for inmates.  Commissary services allow inmates to purchase items that are not issued by the jail.  These items may include clothing, toiletries, snack items, writing implements, and similar items.

There are three ways to put money into an inmate’s commissary account.  You can go online for deposits, make deposits in person at the jail, or mail deposits to the Sheriff’s Department.

To go online, visit Tiger Commissary and select the Crittenden County Detention Center.  Tiger Commissary accepts all major credit cards.  In order to use the online system, you must have the inmate’s name.

To make a deposit in the jail lobby, locate the Kiosk in the lobby of the Crittenden County Detention Center.  The jail lobby kiosk accepts cash as well as all major credit cards.

To send a deposit in the mail, you need to get a money order.  The detainee’s name should be on the money order.   No personal checks or cash are accepted through the mail.  Mail it to:

Crittenden County Sheriff Dept.
350 Afco Rd.
West Memphis, AR

If you have any questions about commissary accounts, you can contact the commissary at its phone number.  That number is 870-702-2096.  You can reach them from Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 3:30pm.

Bail Information

In Crittenden County, Arkansas, you can find out the bond amount by looking at the inmate roster. 

Some inmates in Crittenden County may be eligible for release on a signature bond/citation/own recognizance bond.  This type of bond is an unsecured bond that is basically the inmate’s promise to appear at a future court date.  If the inmate fails to appear, the inmate will be re-arrested, but there is not a financial forfeiture related to the failure to appear.  To qualify one of those bonds, the inmate has to meet several conditions.  The inmate cannot: (1) be charged with a violent crime; (2) be a repeat offender (for these purposes, a repeat offender is one who has had more than three arrests within the last three years); (3) be charged with any type of drug offense or drug-related offense; or (4) be charged with any DWI charges.

Crittenden County also uses surety bonds.  Surety bonds require you to put up only a portion, usually 10%, of the bond amount in order to secure the inmate’s release.  A surety, also known as a bail bondsman, pledges to pay the rest of the bond in the event that the defendant fails to appear at trial.  A surety bond differs from a cash bond, because, when you post a cash bond, the entire amount of the bond is returned when a defendant appears at a hearing.  However, with a surety bond, even if the defendant appears at a hearing, the person who paid the bond still loses the amount that they paid to the surety.

If you are in need of a surety bond, the Crittenden County Jail will not recommend any particular bondsman.  However, if you need the services of a bondsman, you can find one in the Yellow Pages or online at: http://apbblb.comcastbiz.net/update/Crittenden.pdf.

Conclusion

The Crittenden County Detention Center is the county jail facility servicing Crittenden County, Arkansas.  It is run by the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Office and is located at the same location as the Sheriff’s Office, which is at 350 Afco Road, West Memphis, AR 72301.  The Jail Administrator is Ronnie Coleman.

The Crittenden County Detention Center serves multiple purposes and functions as both a temporary holding facility for pre-trial detainees and a post-conviction detention center.  However, it prides itself on being focused on reducing recidivism by teaching work skills and focusing on inmate education.

The Crittenden County Detention Facility is designed for adult inmates and holds both male and female inmates.  Juvenile inmates are held in an associated, but separate facility.  There is no mixing between adult and juvenile inmate