Former Jefferson County Quorum Court candidate Garland Trice is hospitalized after being escorted out of a meeting Monday and then being tasered while sheriff’s deputies attempted to sit him down in a vehicle.
Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr. confirmed Tuesday that Trice remained at Jefferson Regional after complaining of chest pains on his way from the courthouse to the W.C. “Dub” Brassell Detention Center. Video from The Heat magazine shows where Trice yelled profanities toward sheriff’s deputies before one of them yelled “Taser! Taser! Taser!” warning Trice that the non-lethal method would be used.
An arrest disposition report, or ADR, was not available as of midday Tuesday but Trice will be released to custody of the sheriff’s office once treated, Woods said. Trice faces charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and could also be charged with interference of government operation, the sheriff added.
The video shows where Trice became verbally combative with District 1 Justice Alfred Carroll Sr., who defeated him in the March 2024 Democratic primary after Carroll asked Trice to state his name before making public comments. Carroll asked Trice to state his name just as Trice uttered the words: “My first question is …”
“Please state your name. The video is still going. There’s a public out there and they want to know who’s speaking,” Carroll continued.
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“If you’d shut up, I’d will,” Trice responded.
“Thank you, sir.” Carroll said.
“Did you hear me?” Trice asked.
“I heard you, sir,” Carroll said.
“Be quiet, then,” Trice said. He then stated his name.
The video appears to jump ahead before showing when Trice accused some justices of not answering a roll call.
“Mr. Trice, would you please address the business that’s on the agenda?” Carroll asked.
“Would you shut up so I could finish?” Trice responded.
He then complained about county officials calling two Quorum Court meetings at the same time, an ongoing problem in recent years as a majority of members have opposed some of County Judge Gerald Robinson’s policies.
Trice’s conflict with the Quorum Court escalated, according to the video, when District 3 Justice Reginald Johnson appeared to say “Time,” likely signaling Trice’s allotted time to speak was over.
“You need to shut up,” Trice told Johnson.
“You don’t tell me to shut up,” Johnson responded. “What you can do is be escorted up out of here. That’s what you’re not going to do. You’re not going to disrespect me, sir.”
Woods is then seen along with another deputy approaching Trice and warning him to sit down before being escorted out.
“You’re not going to tell me to sit down,” Trice said.
Woods and the deputy forced Trice out of the room as others followed him outside.
What happened from the time Trice was forced out to the time he was apparently combative with deputies in the patrol unit has not been revealed. Woods said his deputies are not required to wear body cameras.
“Let me apologize. We’re trying to do the county’s business and take care of the county employees, and it’s unfortunate there are those standing in the way of us doing what’s necessary for our employees,” said Carroll, who was presiding over the meeting.
On Tuesday Robinson issued a statement about the fracas, explaining the meeting in which it happened was called after the regularly scheduled meeting that was to include all 13 justices.
“Concerning the incident which occurred after the regular scheduled June 9th, 2025 Quorum Court meeting where eight justices: Reginald Johnson, Melanie Dumas, Reginald Adams, Margarette Williams, Alfred Carroll, Cedric Jackson, Richard Victorino (and) Brenda Bishop Gaddy; all walked out in protest, leaving the regular scheduled meeting without enough members to have a quorum to continue county business, and upon the adjournment of the meeting and after approximately 20 minutes later, the eight reconvened and started another special meeting,” Robinson said in the statement. “The eight reconvened and started another special meeting.”
As video of the confrontation goes outside the courthouse, Trice is identified as the person lying down near the police unit. Woods said deputies told him Trice was being combative and not cooperative, but not while they walked down the hall toward the exit.
Woods said Trice indicated he had chest pains and, as a matter of protocol, the sheriff’s office called for medical assistance. An emergency medical service immediately responded and found nothing wrong with him, Woods said.
At some point during the conflict near the patrol unit, Trice refused further medical attention. Video shows Trice yelling obscenities toward law enforcement as they try to sit him down in the unit. Instead, Trice is apparently using his right foot to resist arrest.
“You’re about to be tased. Taser! Taser! Taser!” one of the deputies yells before deploying it on Trice, his shirt only around his neck and not fully covering his shoulders. Trice is them slumped down to the ground before deputies pick him up and place him in the unit.
“In route to jail, he complained of chest pains again,” Woods said. “He remains in the ER now. Deputies have maintained custody of him.”
Robinson said in his statement Trice’s arrest was a violation of his constitutional rights.
“Viewing the video footage from a number of social media sources, I fail to see the probable cause for an arrest and the excessive force displayed by the Sheriff and deputies of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department,” said Robinson, a former sheriff. “I’m also puzzled as to why the Sheriff even got involved because he has verbally stated in the public and through social media sources that he is not the sergeant of arms for the Quorum Court. He has also shown that he would not perform these duties in open court when asked by this Judge to escort people from the meeting when they were being unruly during the meetings. … In my opinion he, the Sheriff, has clearly demonstrated that he is not an officer of the Quorum Court and his involvement was unwarranted in my opinion!”
Woods said he thinks Trice’s actions warranted the arrest.
“I think it meets the actions (for the charges),” the sheriff said. “Unfortunately it happened. I showed a lot of restraint and was patient in giving him a chance to be compliant, but he wasn’t hearing me.”
Trice filed two lawsuits against county officials in April, the most recent against seven justices – Carroll, Adams in District 2, Johnson, Williams in District 6, Dumas in District 7, Jackson in District 9 and Gaddy in District 13. He and four other citizens accused them of committing malfeasance by attempting to pass ordinances and having the county disburse funds “in their favor,” both without Robinson’s approval.
Earlier that month Trice, along with activist Mark Cannon and Pine Bluff resident Clayron Rasberry, accused County Assessor Gloria Tillman and her office of nepotism and malfeasance in hiring Tillman’s daughter and making improper payments to former Assessor Yvonne Humphrey.
A message was left for Little Rock attorney Jay Paul Coleman, who represents the plaintiffs in both cases.