Jefferson

Formed November 2, 1829 (17^th county)

Jefferson County (67,261), Pine Bluff (41,257)

The 1838 masonry courthouse received a large addition in 1980 following a fire.  The building is located near downtown at East Barraque and Main streets.  United States Highway 65 is one block north of the site.  This is the only courthouse located in Pine Bluff for the county although Boone’s Cabin served as county seat 1829-1832.  Jacob Brump, Alonson Spauling, and W. H. Lindsay were the architects for this Antebellum style courthouse.  The building was remodeled in 1860 and renovated in 1890.  A court annex was added in 2009.  A District Courthouse is also located in the county.  Jefferson County was named for Thomas Jefferson, third United States President.  The county seat was named for a forest of pines overlooking the river.  Jefferson County was cut from parts of Arkansas and Pulaski counties on November 2, 1829 as the 17^th county. 

Jefferson County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, treasurer, and coroner (executive).  It has 13 Quorum Court members (legislative.)  Six Circuit Court Judges serve Jefferson and Lincoln counties and a District Court Judge, an Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Jefferson County (judicial.)  The county is located in the southeast just to the south and east of Little Rock, Arkansas.  The center of the county is 6.7 miles East of Pine Bluff.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Pulaski, Lonoke, Arkansas, Lincoln, Cleveland, and Grant counties.  The county is rectangular with a barrel extending east.  The Arkansas River crosses the county from northwest to southeast becoming part of the border in the southeast.  Pine Bluff is in western half of the county.  Pine Bluff is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 61.3% of the county population.  

The area of the county is 913.7 square miles.  It is 8 of 75 in size.  It ranks 11 out of 75 in population in the state.  It has a density of 73.6 persons per square mile making it 15 out of 75 in the state.  Jefferson County has 73.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 65 goes diagonally from Grant County, northwest, to Lincoln County, southeast.  United States Highway 79 crosses the other diagonal from northeast to southwest, Arkansas County to Cleveland County.  United States Highway 270 originates in the county and proceeds west into Grant County.  United States Highway 425 also starts in the county and heads south into Lincoln County.  The county is in the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Humphrey