Known for his negotiating skills and ability to stretch a budget, Izard County Sheriff Tate Lawrence died Friday after a three-month battle with cancer.
Lawrence, 69, had been the sheriff since Jan. 1, 2005.
Izard County Chief Deputy Earnie Blackwell was named interim sheriff and will serve until the Quorum Court appoints a new sheriff April 20, County Judge Eric Smith said. Lawrence's term will end in December 2018.
The appointed sheriff cannot seek re-election, Smith said.
"He was as good a guy as I've ever worked for," Blackwell said. "I've worked with a lot of good people. He was the best."
Blackwell said Lawrence was best known for working well with people, often in volatile situations.
"He treated everybody the same way," Blackwell said. "It didn't matter who you were. He respected everyone."
In July 2013, Lawrence confronted an angry crowd at the Horseshoe Bend City Council chambers when aldermen discussed disbanding the city's Police Department and contracting with the Izard County sheriff's office to patrol the town of 2,200.
Lawrence outlined his proposal, often talking over derisive cries from dozens of people who opposed the plan. The county began patrolling the town later that summer at a cost to Horseshoe Bend of $240,000 a year. A year later, after the trial period concluded, aldermen voted to renew the contract with the county for four years.
"A lot of people were skeptical in the beginning," Horseshoe Bend Mayor Bob Barnes said in 2014. "But now they say, 'Why didn't they do this a long time ago?'"
Blackwell called that Lawrence's "greatest accomplishment."
"They were all against the idea at the start," he said. "But then, 99.9 percent of those folks are all on board with the sheriff's office now. That was Tate's doing."
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge released a statement about Lawrence's death Friday afternoon.
"[Lawrence] made it his mission to dutifully protect and serve the people of Izard County," Rutledge said in the statement. "He had the respect of his deputies and staff and the gratitude of his neighbors. From Melbourne to Calico Rock to Horseshoe Bend, nobody questioned the commitment of Sheriff Lawrence even during his battle with cancer."
Smith said Lawrence was easy to work with when the county planned its yearly budget.
Before becoming sheriff, Lawrence worked at a chicken production plant and owned a Chevrolet dealership in Melbourne.
"He had a very good business sense," Smith said. "He knew how to use money wisely. He was an excellent sheriff, and he will be greatly missed."
State Desk on 04/10/2017