Arkansas Moving Some State Prisoners from County Jails… to a Former County Jail
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders (R) announced on December 27, 2024, that the state Department of Corrections (DOC) had added 1,500 beds to ease overcrowding in state prisons. Sanders crowed that she had “stopped kicking the can down the road.” But at least 266 of the new beds were found in a decommissioned county jail and work release centers—raising the question of whether they were viable in the long-term for all but the lowest-risk prisoners.
In county jails around the state, nearly 2,100 state prisoners have been waiting for a bed. Sanders pushed the state Board of Corrections, which provides oversight to DOC, to find room for them. Another 400 state prisoners are held in county jails under Act 309, a program that pays Sheriffs to house them. Adding the two together, the total number of state prisoners not being held in a state prison is over 13% of the 18,900 incarcerated by the state.
Meanwhile, Sanders and DOC moved forward with plans to build a new “mega” prison in Franklin County. However, her $477 million estimate for the project “will not deliver 3,000 beds”—the number Sanders has floated—according to the state Division of Building Authority. The Franklin County and River Valley Coalition of nearby landowners formed in opposition to the project estimated its true cost would end up closer to $1.5 billion.
Sources: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, KATV, KFSM
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