Former Arkansas Congressman and Pulaski County Sheriff Tommy Robinson died Wednesday night at the Forrest City Medical Center.
The coroner said Robinson, age 82, died of natural causes following a brief illness.
Robinson served four years as Pulaski County’s sheriff in Central Arkansas starting in 1980 according to The Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
He was involved in the 1983 trial and arrest of convicted murder Barry Lee Fairchild, in which Fairchild accused Robinson of forcing a confession out of him.
The next year, Robinson was elected as Arkansas' second Congressional district representative in central Arkansas.
He served two terms as a Democrat, then switched to the Republican party during his final third term.
After leaving Congress, he retired to his farm in Brinkley.