Arkansas legislative panel removes additional prison funding bill from consideration
Sen. Jimmy Hickey (left), R-Texarkana, votes present on House Bill 1427, cosponsored by Sen. Missy Irvin (center), R-Mountain View, on the Arkansas Senate floor on February 18, 2025. At right is Sen. Ricky Hill, R-Cabot. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)
A legislative budget committee on Monday pulled down a bill that would have added $250 million to a fund dedicated to prison construction in Arkansas.
The decision comes less than a week after state lawmakers said a separate $750 million appropriation bill to support construction of a 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County appears dead after five failed votes in the Senate. Disputes over the two bills are the latest in a monthslong battle to fund and build a new state penitentiary in the rural western Arkansas county.
Senate Bill 633 would authorize the addition of $250 million from general revenue to a correctional facilities fund that the Legislature placed $330 million into in 2023. State lawmakers also set aside $75 million in 2022 for expanding the state's prison capacity, and that money has already been allocated to the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
Republican lawmakers questioned the intent of SB 633 during the Joint Budget Committee's meeting Monday. Rep. Jim Wooten, R-Beebe, asked if the bill was 'a backdoor way' to fund the new penitentiary.
Meanwhile, Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, sought assurances that state officials wouldn't try to pull money from a separate $350 million miscellaneous appropriation to the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration to support prison construction.
'I have no problem moving money into this account, but I think that we need to have a path of where we think we're going…but what I want to make sure is that it's not our intention that we're going to use a large part of that miscellaneous appropriation that we give through DF&A to fund this prison,' Hickey said.
Arkansas lawmakers consider other funding methods as they abandon sixth prison appropriation vote
Specifically, Hickey asked if the $75 million that's already been allocated to the corrections department would be used to assess a more detailed cost estimate of the whole project as requested by some state lawmakers.
Magnolia Republican and Joint Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Lane Jean said the goal is to spend the $75 million first.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has called for expanding bed capacity at state prisons to alleviate overcrowding in county jails. A lack of space at Arkansas prisons has led to some state inmates being housed in local jails.
Controversy arose last October when Sanders announced the state purchased 815 acres near Charleston for nearly $3 million as a site to construct a new prison. Local residents and state officials decried the lack of transparency in the decision and have pushed back against the project for months.
The Arkansas Board of Corrections has moved forward with the project by hiring a construction management company and seeking proposals from architectural firms and contractors.
Searcy Republican and JBC Vice Chair Sen. Jonathan Dismang recommended removing SB 633 from consideration Monday, noting that the corrections department isn't likely to use all $75 million before next year's fiscal session in April when lawmakers could again explore options for funding prison expansion.
If officials do need additional funding before then, they have the ability to request lawmakers' approval for a temporary appropriation increase, Dismang said.
'There's no reason to have a continued debate this morning with where we are in the session,' he said.
The Arkansas Legislature is scheduled to finish the bulk of its work by Wednesday, before recessing for a few weeks and officially adjourning the legislative session on May 5.
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