18th Judicial District East Prosecuting Attorney

The 18th Judicial District East of Arkansas is composed of Garland County. The Prosecuting Attorney, in the administration of criminal justice, protects victims of crime as well as citizens at large. In addition, the Prosecuting Attorney seeks to punish criminals, help recover restitution for victims of crime, and to rehabilitate offenders who have shown a positive change in their life. Our society experiences a wide variety of crimes including domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual and physical abuse, abuse of the elderly, heinous murders of adults and children, distribution of dangerous and illegal drugs, assault on police officers and teachers, gang violence, writing of hot checks and numerous other offenses. The Prosecuting Attorney, along with the local law enforcement agencies, seeks to apprehend and prosecute criminals helping to make our neighborhoods safer and benefit society as a whole.

State of Arkansas, Michelle Lawrence
Michelle Lawrence - Prosecuting Attorney
18th Judicial District East

Prosecuting Attorney

Michelle C. Lawrence

About the Prosecuting Attorney

Michelle C. Lawrence is the Prosecuting Attorney for the Eighteenth Judicial District East, serving Garland County. Lawrence began her career at the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as a Deputy in 1994. In 2001, she was assigned to the position of Division Chief in Garland County Circuit Court Division IV, wherein she was responsible for the administration of attorneys and department staff assigned to Division IV, as well as being solely responsible for a caseload that encompassed the most serious and violent of crimes.

In 2010, Lawrence was assigned the additional duty of Chief of Staff, where she supervised the daily operations of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and managed the department staff employed in the office. In January 2015, Lawrence was promoted to the position of Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney.

Lawrence is a graduate of the University of Arkansas School of Law. She received her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Arkansas.

Lawrence is a member of the Arkansas Bar Association, Garland County Bar Association, National District Attorneys Association, Arkansas Prosecuting Attorney’s Association, American Prosecutor’s Research Institute, Leadership Hot Springs, Garland County Multi-Disciplinary Team, Arkansas Alumni Association, and the Hot Springs Alumni Chapter of Delta Delta Delta.

In January 2014, Lawrence was awarded the honor of being voted by readers of the Hot Springs Sentinel Record as the 2014 Reader’s Choice Award for Woman of the Year. In 2015, she was presented with the Deputy for Justice Award by the Arkansas Prosecuting Attorney’s Association.

Lawrence is a member of Piney Grove United Methodist Church. She and her husband, Jason, have three (3) children.