Sheriff Rick Anders Speaks to Lions Club

Lions Club President Brandon Gorman, Sheriff Rick Anders, and Lion Tom Colvin

Bradley County Sheriff Rick Anders was guest speaker for the August 26th Warren Lions Club meeting.  He was invited by Lion Tom Colvin who introduced the Sheriff.  The meeting was conducted at Molly's in downtown Warren.

Sheriff Anders provided the club a history of his career in law enforcement beginning with the Bradley County Sheriff's office under the supervision of the late Raymond Johnson and continuing as a city police officer, a deputy in Jefferson County and finishing up with the Arkansas Highway Police before returning to the sheriff's office and being elected Bradley County Sheriff and Collector.  He stated he is serving his 4th two year term.


The Sheriff informed the members that as of now the department has four fulltime deputies and two part time deputies.  He talked about the explosion of cases the department deals with and the tremendous amount of time now spent working in court.   According to the sheriff, stealing is a major issue his department deals with and a large percentage of the crimes are tied to drug use.  He discussed the jail needs and informed the Lions that he and his staff spend a huge amount of time  transporting prisoners.

A question about the possibility of a regional jail was asked.  The sheriff stated he was unsure of the status but that discussions are underway trying to get a jail constructed to serve Cleveland, Lincoln, Bradley and Drew counties.  The idea is to have the state involved in the endeavor and there is a possibility that a private firm could be the owner.  The counties would have to agree to help pay for the operations and maybe assist in paying off a portion of the debt.   There are details to be completed.  Those decisions  will be made by the county judges and quorum courts.

The Sheriff also told the club members that Arkansas is one of only two states that continue to have the term of Sheriff set at two years.