Arkansas' prison plan is too big, board member claims
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Signs protesting the proposed prison in Franklin County. Photo: Worth Sparkman/Axios
Arkansas doesn't need a 3,000-bed prison, a member of the state Board of Corrections wrote in an email sent to lawmakers Monday, the Arkansas Advocate first reported.
Why it matters: The controversial proposed Franklin County project could cost $1 billion and would be one of the largest development projects in recent state history.
The big picture: Locals and legislators critical of the project claim there are unclear construction costs, a lack of adequate workforce, and infrastructure challenges.
- Supporters say there's a need for more state prison capacity as inmates wait in overcrowded county jails.
- Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is steadfast in her support of the proposed project and location.
What he's saying: "Arkansas absolutely needs a new prison," board member Lee Watson wrote in the email. "Arkansas' incarceration of offenders has outpaced our facilities' capacity to house offenders for more than 45 years."
- But the Board of Corrections did not request a prison the size of the one proposed, nor has it been told it needed one that size, Watson wrote.
- "The Board has never been provided evidence that a 3,000 [bed] facility is needed," he wrote.
"It is important to note that the county jail backup (i.e. prison overcrowding) in recent years has remained somewhat consistently around 1,600," he added. "If Arkansas had an additional 3,000 bed facility today, 1,400 beds would be empty."
The other side: The opposition's math doesn't include outstanding warrants that can't be served due to lack of prison space, nor capacity issues that will get worse as truth-in-sentencing and parole restrictions in the Protect Arkansas Act begin to go into effect, Sanders spokesperson Sam Dubke pointed out in an email to Axios.
Friction point: Watson wrote that a previously planned 500-bed expansion would now have been completed and able to alleviate some overcrowding had it not been stopped.
- He also said the state needs three to five 100- to 200-bed facilities in Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith for nonviolent offenders and parole violators where they can get community support for substance abuse.
The bottom line: Watson said he spoke for himself and not the board.
- "We need your support and we need funding to address our overcrowding problems," he wrote.