Freeman Joins Sheriff’s Race

RISON - A third candidate has entered the race for Cleveland County sheriff as Vance “Lee” Freeman of the Rison area, an active law enforcement officer with the Pine Bluff Police Department, officially announced his bid through his personal Facebook page last Thursday.Freeman joins Cleveland County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Poss and former Oklahoma sheriff deputy Keden Shrum, both of the Rison area, as those who have announced their intentions to run.Current Sheriff Jack Rodgers has announced he will be retiring at the end of his current term on Dec. 31, 2026, after serving for more than 49 years with the department.Freeman is a native of Rison, graduating from Rison High School in 1994. He joined the U.S. Marines after high school and became a military police officer. He said he was stationed overseas at Okinawa, Japan, and stateside in Jacksonville, N.C.“My time on bike patrol in North Carolina taught me the value of community policing—being visible, building trust, and forging strong relationships with citizens,” Freeman stated on his post. “I believe that law enforcement cannot be truly effective without a foundation of mutual respect and open communication between deputies and the communities they serve.”After completing his military service in 1998, he returned to Rison and worked in maintenance roles at Tyson Foods and the Arkansas Department of Corrections before beginning his career with the Pine Bluff Police Department in January 2002. Since that time, Freeman said he has served in various roles—from graveyard patrol to bike patrol, and ultimately, vice and narcotics. He has served as a task force officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for over 18 years and is a member of the Tri-County Drug Task Force, working major federal drug investigations. He has also worked with Pine Bluff SWAT and served as a Sniper Team Leader. “With over 20 years of experience in narc...