The Jefferson County sheriff will be the county's new chief executive, and his third-in-command will take over as sheriff.
Sheriff Gerald L. Robinson defeated Dutch King, the county judge from 2013 through 2016 and a former Pine Bluff mayor, in the Democratic primary Tuesday night. He faces no opposition in November's general election and will assume office Jan. 1.
"It's a dream come true," Robinson said Tuesday night.
Unofficial results, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, were:
[ELECTIONS COVERAGE: Find all results + stories]
Robinson 4,164
King 4,060
Robinson will replace Booker T. Clemons, who was appointed county judge by the Jefferson County Quorum Court in March.
Clemons, 88, is not allowed by law to run for the office. He replaced Henry "Hank" Wilkins IV, who resigned from the position in March after pleading guilty to accepting more than $80,000 in bribes in exchange for pushing certain bills while he served in the Arkansas Legislature.
Lafayette Woods Jr., a major in the sheriff's office, will replace Robinson as the county's sheriff after defeating Larry E. Gragg Jr., a former sheriff's office employee, and Roger McLemore, a 38-year veteran of the Arkansas State Police.
Unofficial results of the sheriff's race were:
Woods 4,639
McLemore 1,760
Gragg 1,754
All three candidates are Pine Bluff residents.
Gragg and McLemore criticized the way the sheriff's office is managed currently, saying that employees were treated unfairly and crime reports were not being investigated adequately.
Woods, 37, faces no opposition in the November general election and will take over Jan. 1. He did not answer his cellphone when a reporter called and texted him late Tuesday night.
Both sheriff and judge are four-year positions that pay $75,555 a year.
All the candidates for Jefferson County judge and sheriff lamented the county's population decline and subsequent budget concerns.
Jefferson County's population decline since 2010 has been the biggest in the state, .
"We've got a lot of work to do," Robinson said.
Robinson said moving the county forward was "all about communicating and everyone sharing" the same goals. He said he already shares visions with the incoming sheriff.
Woods has worked with the sheriff's office since 2004. Currently he is in charge of operations and doubles as the agency's public information officer.
Metro on 05/23/2018