Cleveland

Formed April 17, 1873 (70^th county)

Cleveland County (7,548), Rison (964)

The center clock tower dominates the brick courthouse.  Theodore M. Sanders designed this Beaux Arts style courthouse.  This 1911 structure is located at the intersection of Main and Magnolia streets.  United States Highway 79 passes five blocks west of the center of the city where the courthouse is located.  Grover Cleveland, United States President, gave the county got its name.  Rison got its name from a local settler, William R. Rison.  Cleveland County was originally called Dorsey County on its April 17, 1873 creation as the 70^th county.  The name changed in 1885.  Both Toledo (1873) and Rison (1891) have served as county seat.  Cleveland County was the birthplace of 1 Arkansas Governor, Harvey Parnell.  Parts of Bradley, Dallas, and Jefferson counties were used to form the new county. 

Cleveland County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, treasurer, and coroner (executive).  It has 9 Quorum Court members (legislative.)  Six Circuit Court Judges serve Cleveland, Calhoun, Columbia, Dallas, Ouachita, and Union counties and a District Court Judge, an Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Cleveland County (judicial.)  The county is situated in south central Arkansas south of Little Rock, Arkansas and north of El Dorado, Arkansas.  Its western border is the Mayo River.  The Saline River crosses the county from north to south.  The center of the county is 9.3 miles South-Southwest of Rison nearer Kingsland.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Grant, Jefferson, Lincoln, Drew, Bradley, Calhoun, and Dallas counties.  It is shaped like a fat T.  Rison is in the northern third of the county.  Rison is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 12.8% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced RIE-SUN. 

The area of the county is 598.8 square miles.  It is 61 of 75 in size.  It ranks 69 out of 75 in population in the state.  It has a density of 12.6 persons per square mile making it 65 out of 75 in the state.  Cleveland County has 17.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 79 enters from Jefferson County to the northeast and exits into Dallas County to the southwest.  United States Highway 167 cuts the northwest corner of the county entering from and exiting to Dallas County.  The county is in the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area.