Gov. Sanders blasts Board of Corrections for partially rejecting request for more beds

by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)

Gov. Sarah Sanders wants to create 500 new beds in the Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC) system and she is calling on the Board of Corrections to do so. A department spokesperson said the agency doesn’t have the staff to accommodate the bed request.

She was joined by Attorney General Tim Griffin, Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Director of Arkansas State Police Mike Hagar, Secretary of Corrections Joe Profiri among others on Friday (Nov. 17) to make the request public.

“As governor, my top priority is the safety and security of our citizens. I will not sit by while we enact the same broken policies that got us here in the first place because nobody ever called them out. Unfortunately, some in those positions of leadership are still playing games that put Arkansans in harm’s way. Last week, the Arkansas State Board of Corrections refused to approve Secretary Profiri’s thoughtful, informed and desperately – needed request to open up hundreds of additional prison beds. This is simply unacceptable. I’m calling on the Board to convene an emergency meeting without delay to approve the 500 additional beds that they denied last week,” said Sanders.

Gov. Sanders blasts Board of Corrections for partially rejecting request for more beds