Sheriff Frank Atkinson withdraws from re-election bid

Not all the election surprises are on the federal election front.

Sebastian County Sheriff Frank Atkinson announced Monday (Mar. 8) he would not seek a seventh term as the county’s top law officer. Atkinson, 63, said the stress of the job and campaign were beginning to be too much. Atkinson said he made his decision Sunday evening.

“I’ve been eating a lot of Tums over it,” Atkinson said of the job and re-election campaign.

Atkinson was being challenged in the Democratic primary by Bill Hollenbeck, a captain within the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Department and 19-year veteran of the department. The race has, understandably, created some tension within the ranks.

“I’ve been here a long time, and this whole campaign has been crazier than anything I’ve seen in my whole life,” said Atkinson, who has been with the department a total of 41 years. “It was weighing on my nerves and on my whole health … so I decided it would be best for everybody if I just got out” of the race.

The deadline to file in county and state political races was noon on Monday (Mar. 8).

But Hollenbeck will have opposition in the general election.

Tommy Young, 55, the chief deputy and No. 2 person for Atkinson for the past 11 years, filed Monday as a Republican. Young has worked 21 years in the department, and was an officer six years with the Fort Smith Police Department prior to that.

“This is something I had planned to do when the sheriff retired,” Young said. “It’s something I wanted to do for a long time, and something I had in mind when I first started for the sheriff’s office 21 years ago.”

Young said Atkinson had encouraged him to run for the position.

“But I told him there would be one catch, that I’d run as a Republican,” Young said, adding that he thought Atkinson would back him as a Republican. Young also said party affiliation doesn’t mean as much “at that level.”

Atkinson has not endorsed a candidate, but said he might “look at that later down the line.”

Creating an environment at the Sebastian County Detention Center that attracts and retains “the best people” is Young’s top campaign pledge. The center has been hit in recent years with incidents related to prisoner maltreatment. Young said the center is seen as a stepping stone to other law enforcement jobs and not as a good career.

“I want to concentrate on the detention center,” Young said. “It’s been a stepping stone and the best people move on. … You have to have the training and the atmosphere where the best people want to stay and make a career of it.”

Deputy County Clerk Angie Hatwig said the office did receive a formal letter from Atkinson announcing his withdrawal, which means his name will not appear on the May 18 primary ballot.