Board of Corrections votes to accept land for planned prison

by Michael Tilley (mtilley@talkbusiness.net)

The Arkansas Board of Corrections (BOC) on Friday (Nov. 8) voted to accept the land for a planned 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County. The move comes after considerable protest from county residents and Arkansas legislators who represent the area.

Six of the seven-member BOC voted to accept the land, with one member abstaining.

Gov. Sarah Sanders, Arkansas Department of Corrections Secretary Lindsay Wallace, Arkansas Board of Corrections Chairman Benny Magness, and other state and local officials announced Oct. 31 that the state has purchased land north of Charleston in Franklin County to build the prison. The cost for the 815 acres was $2.9 million.

More than 1,800 area residents attended a town hall Thursday to ask questions about the prison and push back against it being built in Franklin County.

Board of Corrections votes to accept land for planned prison

Arkansas attorney general to appeal rulings in Board of Corrections disputes

KUAR | By Hunter Field / Arkansas Advocate

From the Arkansas Advocate:

Arkansas’ attorney general on Tuesday filed notices that he plans to appeal both circuit court rulings that favored the state prison board over the state in recent legal disputes.

AG Tim Griffin’s coming appeals to the Arkansas Supreme Court mean the state’s highest court could, for the first time, rule on the reach of the constitutional provision that gives some independence to the Arkansas Board of Corrections as well as the state’s colleges and universities.

The Supreme Court will also be asked to decide whether the board had authority to hire its own outside attorney to file a lawsuit against Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and defend it from Griffin’s lawsuit against the board.

Arkansas attorney general to appeal rulings in Board of Corrections disputes

Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate

The Pulaski County Courthouse.

Ruling favors Board of Corrections, blocks Gov. Sanders’ move to add prison beds

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

Recent legislation used by Gov. Sarah Sanders in her attempt to take control of prisons from the Arkansas Board of Corrections (BOC) has been blocked in a ruling handed down Friday (Jan. 19) by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Patricia James.

Sanders and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin say that Acts 185 and 659, passed in the 2023 Legislative Session, give the governor direct authority over leadership at the Department of Corrections. The BOC on Dec. 14 filed lawsuits in Pulaski County Circuit Court challenging the constitutionality of sections of Acts 185 and 659. The BOC claims that Amendment 33, ratified in 1942, does not allow a governor to take direct control of the state’s prison system.

Judge James on Dec. 2 granted a temporary restraining order preventing Sanders and Griffin from exercising authority under Acts 185 and 659. A hearing on the lawsuit was held Jan. 4.

Ruling favors Board of Corrections, blocks Gov. Sanders’ move to add prison beds

Judge orders TRO in Corrections Board lawsuit, AG sues panel over FOIA violations

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

A tension-filled week of accusations, legal wranglings and political drama between Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, Attorney General Tim Griffin and the state Board of Corrections ended with more acrimony and theater on Friday (Dec. 15).

For weeks, Gov. Sanders and the board have fought over plans to expand prison beds. Sanders has asked for additional space, while the seven-member corrections oversight panel has called for more details on funding and personnel to protect the prisoner expansion requests. Because the state Constitution gives autonomy to the board, the decision-making hasn’t been a purely executive decision for the governor. It led to Secretary of Corrections Joe Profiri being suspended with pay on Thursday, while a corrections board lawsuit was filed the same day to halt a new state law that it claims undermines its authority. Read more here.

All of this boiled to a new level of political turmoil on Friday as AG Griffin filed a lawsuit against the Board of Corrections for failing to comply with the state’s Freedom of Information Act, while a Pulaski County judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in favor of the board in its lawsuit.

Judge orders TRO in Corrections Board lawsuit, AG sues panel over FOIA violations

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