Jamar Goff, the 23-year-old foster son of The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond, was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 2026, facing charges that include assaulting a police officer and drug possession, according to jail and court records reviewed by major news outlets. The arrest occurred at approximately 2:30 a.m. at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where responding officers encountered Goff asleep and shirtless near a campus fountain.
Arrest Details at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
According to court documents obtained by TMZ and reviewed by Page Six and The Daily Mail, Birmingham police officers responded to a call regarding a suspicious person on the university campus. Officers found Jamar Goff asleep near a fountain without a shirt. When questioned, Goff reportedly told officers he was waiting for someone to sell him “ice,” which law enforcement notes is slang for methamphetamine.
Officers initially did not detain Goff, instructing him to leave the premises. However, a subsequent check revealed that Goff had an active arrest warrant. When officers tracked him down to execute the warrant and attempted to handcuff him, Goff fled on foot toward a nearby medical facility.
When confronted by officers at the facility, Goff allegedly struck an officer with “an open-handed palm strike.” A subsequent search of Goff and his backpack yielded a glass pipe and 1.8 grams of methamphetamine, according to police documents cited by TMZ and The Daily Mail. Legal documents cited by the outlets also state that Goff was currently homeless at the time of the incident.
Charges and Jail Bond Information
Goff was booked into the Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham on September 15, 2026. Jail records reviewed by The Daily Mail show that he faces multiple criminal charges:
- Aggravated assault on a police officer (or assaulting a police officer)
- Unlawful possession of a controlled substance
- Possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia
- Attempting to elude a police officer
According to Jefferson County Jail records obtained by Page Six and The Daily Mail, Goff’s bond was set at $37,000.
Family Background and Previous Statements
Ree Drummond, widely known as “The Pioneer Woman,” and her husband, Ladd Drummond, took Goff in as a foster child in 2018. In her 2020 book Frontier Follies, Drummond wrote that fostering a child was not something she and her husband had planned to pursue, but that Goff’s circumstances were something they “couldn’t ignore.” The family grew close to Goff after he sustained a foot injury in an ATV accident that required medical appointments and mobility assistance.
Drummond later referred to Goff on her blog as “an inextricable part of our wacky family.” In 2023, the The Food Network personality shared a birthday tribute to Goff on Instagram for his 21st birthday, writing, “With Jamar, there’s a whole universe going on in that mind and heart and soul of his. It’s a beautiful thing to behold.” Representatives for Ree Drummond and the Birmingham Police Department have been approached for further comment regarding the arrest, though Drummond has not publicly addressed the allegations as of late September 2026.
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