RISON - A power failure at the Cleveland County Courthouse Monday forced the complex to go to its generators for back-up power for most of the day Monday and the work day on Tuesday.County Judge Jimmy Cummings said the lights inside the courthouse began to blink at about 1 p.m. Monday before the power eventually went out. He said two of the three generators began producing power for the courthouse shortly after that before the third went online at about 3:30 p.m.Some of the generators used to power the courthouse were recently installed using federal funding through the American Rescue Plan, Cummings said.A crew from Entergy, which provides power for the City of Rison, inspected the outage and discovered that two of the three underground power lines feeding the courthouse complex had burned in two.The power going to the courthouse feeds not only the courthouse but the sheriff's department and jail as well. All offices inside the courthouse and the sheriff's department operated off auxiliary power Monday afternoon through Tuesday. The power issues also limited internet access.The outage did force the Cleveland County Circuit Court to move its court proceedings on Tuesday from the second-floor courtroom inside the courthouse to the Hall-Morgan Veterans Building across Sycamore Street.A crew from Southern Electric Company had to dig up the underground power line to make repairs Tuesday. Cummings said the power was restored late Tuesday afternoon....
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