Yell County, Arkansas


Yell County is a county in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,185. The county has two county seats, Dardanelle and Danville. Yell County is Arkansas's 42nd county, formed on December 5, 1840 from portions of Scott and Pope counties. It was named after Archibald Yell, who was the state's first member of the United States House of Representatives and the second governor of Arkansas; he later was killed in combat at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican–American War. It is an alcohol prohibition or dry county.
Yell County is part of the Russellville, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

first inhabited present-day Yell County and the Arkansas River Valley for centuries prior to European colonization, using the open, fertile floodplain of the Arkansas River for hunting grounds and farming settlements. During the Thomas Jefferson and Indian Removal era, many Cherokee were voluntarily relocating from Georgia along the Arkansas River, including in Yell County, between 1775 and 1786. A large Cherokee reservation across the Arkansas River from Yell County was established in 1815 to encourage further voluntary relocation from Georgia.
The area presently encompassed as Yell County was first settled by European settlers when James Carden built a house among Cherokee farms in the Dardanelle Bottoms at the confluence of the Arkansas and Petit Jean Rivers in 1819. Lands south of the Arkansas River had been deeded to the Choctaw in 1820s, but white settlement and Cherokee relocation continued apace into the 1820s, spurring conflicts over the prime river-bottom lands. In 1822, the Council Oaks Treaty meeting was held under two large oak trees, reestablishing Cherokee title of north of the Arkansas River previously granted in 1817 in exchange for removing north of the river. The Cherokee that remained south of the river became known as the "Black Dutch", and largely assimilated.
In 1830, the United States Congress enacted the Indian Removal Act, leading to further, now involuntary, Cherokee settlement in the Arkansas River Valley. Cherokee, Muskogee, and Seminole were forcibly removed along the Trail of Tears through Yell County to present-day Oklahoma.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.

Adjacent counties

As of the 2000 census, there were 21,139 people, 7,922 households, and 5,814 families residing in the county. The population density was 23 people per square mile. There were 9,157 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 86.63% White, 1.47% Black or African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.69% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 8.99% from other races, and 1.62% from two or more races. 12.73% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 12.00% reported speaking Spanish at home.
There were 7,922 households out of which 33.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.50% were married couples living together, 10.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.60% were non-families. 23.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the county, the population was spread out with 25.80% under the age of 18, 8.90% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 22.00% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $28,916, and the median income for a family was $33,409. Males had a median income of $23,172 versus $18,148 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,383. About 11.70% of families and 15.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.20% of those under age 18 and 12.80% of those age 65 or over.

Human resources

Public safety

The Yell County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency in the county. The agency is led by the Yell County Sheriff, an official elected by countywide vote every four years. Police departments in Dardanelle, Danville, and Ola provide law enforcement in their respective jurisdictions, with Bellville, Havana, and Plainview contracting with the Sheriff's Office for law enforcement services.
The current sheriff of Yell County is Bill Gilkey, who has served since 1998. In 2017, he became the longest currently-serving sheriff in Arkansas, after 19 years in the office. He is also the longest-serving sheriff in the county's history. He has announced that he will retire after his term ends in 2022. Gilkey has sat on state boards such as the Arkansas Crime Lab Board and is still currently on the Arkansas Act 309 Board.
Gilkey is credited with the creation of the Yell County Law Enforcement Center in 2016, which replaces two of the county's older jails that did not meet state standards, and houses the sheriff's office. The new building also houses CID offices, revenue office, and an updated E911 dispatch center.
The chief officer of the law in Yell County, as in all Arkansas counties, is the sheriff.
NameYear ElectedYear LeftTotal YearsNotable Accomplishments
Theodore P Sadler184018466
  • First county sheriff
S. Kirkpatrick184618526
Joseph Garrett185218542
J. C. Herin185418562
Joseph Gault185618626
Lorenzo Free186218631
O. Wood186318641
William Henry Ferguson186418717
Jesse George187118721
J. A. Wilson187218742
Reuben E. Cole187418806
Levi L. Briggs188018822
Joseph L. Davis188218864
H. B. McCarrell188618904
Joseph Haston Howard189018922
Sam Gordon Albright189218964
B. H. Burnett189619006
James M. Cole190019044
William Franklin Briggs190419062
William L. Tatum190619104
Theodore Riley Gault191019144
Will T. Caviness191419195
J. N. George191919234
Joe D. Gault192319263
Baxter Gatlin192719303
Buford Compton1931194615
Earl E Lad194719569
Herman D. McCormick1957196811
Carlos Mitchell196919767
  • Construction of the old Danville Jail
  • Construction of the old Dardanelle Jail
    • Hartsell Lewis197719781
    Denver Dennis197919889
    Mike May198919923
    Loyd W. Maughn199319985
  • Construction of Juvenile Detention Center
    • Bill Gilkey1999202223
  • Construction of New Law Enforcement Center and Jail
  • Longest serving sheriff in Yell Count
  • Longest current serving sheriff in the state of Arkansas

    • Government

    The county government is a constitutional body granted specific powers by the Constitution of Arkansas and the Arkansas Code. The quorum court is the legislative branch of the county government and controls all spending and revenue collection. Representatives are called justices of the peace and are elected from county districts every even-numbered year. The number of districts in a county vary from nine to fifteen, and district boundaries are drawn by the county election commission. The Yell County Quorum Court has eleven members. Presiding over quorum court meetings is the county judge, who serves as the chief operating officer of the county. The county judge is elected at-large and does not vote in quorum court business, although capable of vetoing quorum court decisions. Though Yell County has two county seats, the constitutional officers are not duplicated, with duties split between the two courthouses.

    Politics

    Over the past few election cycles Yell county has trended heavily towards the GOP. The last Democratic presidential candidate to carry this county was Bill Clinton in 1996.
    YearGOPDemOthers
    201671.56% 4,60822.98% 1,4805.45% 351
    201267.66% 4,04228.82% 1,7223.52% 210
    200863.09% 3,80833.18% 2,0033.73% 225
    200455.23% 3,67843.75% 2,9131.02% 68
    200049.75% 3,22347.26% 3,0622.99% 194
    199631.77% 2,11156.43% 3,74911.80% 784
    199232.79% 2,50654.49% 4,16512.72% 972
    198855.84% 3,53543.64% 2,7630.52% 33
    198459.56% 4,05139.39% 2,6791.06% 72
    198044.65% 3,18751.87% 3,7023.48% 248
    197625.04% 1,93274.96% 5,785-
    197266.48% 3,31033.52% 1,6690.00% 0
    196834.44% 1,81928.65% 1,51336.91% 1,949
    196430.86% 1,52768.86% 3,4070.28% 14
    196037.96% 1,30358.49% 2,0083.55% 122
    195640.70% 1,38159.18% 2,0080.12% 4
    195239.54% 1,24359.92% 1,8840.54% 17
    194816.85% 40877.08% 1,8666.08% 147
    194422.94% 48977.02% 1,6420.05% 1
    19409.08% 22490.64% 2,2360.28% 7
    193611.78% 31888.22% 2,3820.00% 0
    193211.88% 27287.77% 2,0100.35% 8
    192827.65% 80271.91% 2,0860.45% 13
    192419.15% 33475.34% 1,3145.50% 96
    192034.21% 1,04263.20% 1,9252.59% 79
    191627.12% 78172.88% 2,0990.00% 0
    191217.18% 43655.20% 1,40127.62% 701
    190834.70% 1,04058.16% 1,7437.14% 214
    190444.32% 91352.38% 1,0793.30% 68
    190033.73% 79865.68% 1,5540.59% 14
    189626.32% 81273.29% 2,2610.39% 12

    Education

    Public education

    Early childhood, elementary and secondary education within Yell County is provided by four public school districts:
    The Arkansas River Valley Regional Library System, is headquartered in Dardanelle and serves multiple counties and consists of one central library and six branch libraries, including the Yell County Library, a branch library in Danville.

    Communities

    Cities

    Major highways