Sheriff Charlie Garrison

CHARLES GARRISON
1941 - 2013

Charles Garrison was born 4-17-1941 in St. Louis, Missouri, to Arthur and Ruth Garrison. He has three brothers: Don, Tom and Joe; Joe has since deceased. He attended a Technical High School and trained to be an automobile mechanic. After leaving school, he worked for a major oil company and managed two service stations and worked for a Ford Dealership. He worked for a worldwide seafood company for 16 years, and served as dock manager for 12 of those years until the plant closed.

Charlie moved to Gamaliel in 1973 and managed a resort and worked at a local mechanic shop. He also managed a bait and tackle business in Gamaliel. He served as the Fire Chief in Gamaliel in 1978. From 1975-1978, he assisted Deputy Sheriff John Caldwell and Deputy Sheriff Ed Dankenbring of Gamaliel and also worked with Deputy Sheriff Harold Lindsley of Henderson.

In 1978, Charlie began working for the Baxter County Sheriff's Office. He attended the Arkansas Law Enforcement Academy in 1979-80 and started working full time for the Baxter County Sheriff's Office, working the 11:00 p.m. - 7:00 a.m. shift. He was promoted to Sergeant and moved to the day shift where he supervised the jail, the road deputies and the Reserve deputies. He also served as court bailiff for Municipal Court, Juvenile Court, Chancery Court and Circuit Court. Charlie supervised the operation of the dive boat and helped operate the dive camera. Other duties included working on vehicles, building the roll cages for the cars, and installing the lights and the radio system. Charlie also met with groups to initiate the Neighborhood Crime Watch program and worked with the Baxter County Explorer Program. He had over 360 hours of training and was awarded a General Certification for Training and Hours in 1994. Charlie served under Sheriffs Joe Edmonds and Sheriff Benny Magness

In 1997, Charles Garrison was elected Baxter County's 24th Sheriff. His accomplishments include:

     • Obtaining two grants for the DARE program
     • Working with the Drug Task Force and assisting with drug busts
     • Making several arrests, arresting two suspects for murder
     • Saving the county considerable money by working on the vehicles himself
     • Loved to visit with the citizens of Baxter County

Charlie was previously married and there were four children born: Tony, Denise, Sheila and Randy that live in Washington, MO.

The second marriage was to Leona "Sis" on July 29, 1972. They have four children, three of whom live in Mountain Home: Colleen McCracken, Evelyn Krug, and Larry Caruso. Charlie Garrison, Jr. lives in Conway, Ark. They also have several grandchildren and a great grandchild.

When contacted for this article, Charlie stated, "I would like to say thank you to the citizens of Baxter County, as well as the wonderful men and women I worked with in the County. I feel that serving a two-year term as Sheriff I was not able to implement some of my long term goals. It's impossible in two years to accomplish much. I truly believe I served the people of Baxter County. I worked well with the Sheriff's Department, giving 110%. There were many long days and nights for myself and my deputies, but we knew what we were getting into when we chose law enforcement."