Latest news with #ArkansasSheriff'sAssociation
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas Sen. Bryan King sends letter to governor asking for prison plan changes
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The plan to build a new prison in Franklin County received pushback on Monday from a state legislator. Sen. Bryan King (R-Green Forest) sent a letter to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders asking for the reallocation of funds for the Franklin County Prison Project to shift to expanding a different prison facility. Arkansas Sheriff's Association head explains support for proposed prison King is opposed to the proposed Franklin County prison. 'If you're going to build a mega-prison in a community, it's going to change their DNA,' King said about the planned 3,000-bed prison. The letter urged a new approach. During a 2023 legislative session, lawmakers approved $75 million in capital improvement funds for the Department of Corrections. That money is now being used to lay the groundwork for a prison in Franklin County. A bill to provide the additional funding needed for the $825 million facility was withdrawn during the 2025 legislative session after it failed to pass in six successive Senate votes. Arkansas prison appropriation bill for Franklin County fails in Senate King said the $75 million was intended to expand the existing facility at the 700-bed North Central Unit at Calico Rock in Izard County, a plan he believes would be both faster and more cost-effective. 'There are much better solutions out there economically to address the overcrowding issue,' King said. Franklin County local Adam Watson supports Senator King's letter. 'The people don't want the project in its current iteration. It doesn't mean they're against building a prison,' Watson said. 'This iteration of the prison project is shortsighted, is going to cost everybody way too much money, and not going to be a success in its current form.' Arkansas Dept. of Corrections outlines new budget toward Franklin County prison plan Sanders said previously that the state needs more prison capacity and that Franklin County is the best location for a new prison. She said there is widespread support for the prison among legislators and local officials across the state. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Legislature filing mandates $1 billion fund for Arkansas prison construction
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A special language filing for a bill funding the construction of a new prison in Arkansas has a steep price tag. The filing mandates that the prison construction will have a Restricted Reserve Fund of $1 billion. Group outlines opposition to Franklin County prison plans for Arkansas A special language filing is used to add what are usually temporary provisions to a bill, in this case requiring the $1 billion fund for a bill requesting $750 million for a planned 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County. The filing states that construction of the prison can not begin until the legislature has established the fund. Opponents of the governor-supported prison plan have pointed to its cost—among other factors—at the root of their opposition. The initial estimate for the prison was $1.2 billion, later revised down to $470 million by reducing square footage, ultimately arriving at a $825 million estimate in its current form. Arkansas Sheriff's Association head explains support for proposed prison The $750 million funding request adds to the $75 million already allocated to the project. The special language filing adds that the $1 billion fund should not be drawn from the catastrophic reserve fund or the Arkansas reserve fund set aside in the reserve fund. Language in the filing mandates approval of the prison fund, which requires approval by three-fifths of a quorum or a majority of the membership of the Legislative Council or if the legislature is in session by the Joint Budget Committee. Arkansas senator introduces legislation to counter governor's prison plans The special language subcommittee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas Sheriff's Association head explains support for proposed prison
Video: Controversy stirring over new state prison coming to Franklin County LITTLE ROCK, Ark . – The Arkansas Sheriff's Association executive director gave several reasons why his organization has been calling for a new state prison for years but said it ultimately came down to one essential thing. 'Our misdemeanor justice system is broken,' Scott Bradley said. A former Van Buren County sheriff, Bradley heads up the organization representing sheriffs in the 75 Arkansas counties. Controversy stirring over new state prison coming to Franklin County Bradley explained that the state-wide problem is a lack of capacity and everything that falls from that. The beginning of the problem is that as of Tuesday, the 71 county detention facilities throughout the state are holding 1,952 state inmates, beds that are not available for county needs. He explained that those inmates ultimately move through the system, but not as fast as needed to meet capacity, even after the Department of Corrections recently opened up roughly 1,500 additional beds. He explained that a county sheriff has to maintain the capacity of his jail. This means that inmates have to be released to make room for state inmates and, in some cases, federal inmates, along with county inmates charged with violent crimes being held on bond. This leads to misdemeanor arrests being released on recognizance (OR), meaning without bond and with the expectation they will appear for their court date. Sadly, Bradley said, this is often not the case, and where the misdemeanor just system breaks down as Arkansas has thousands of Failure to Appear (FTA) warrants on file. Arkansas Dept. of Corrections outlines new budget toward Franklin County prison plan He gave the example of a person released OR who now has an FTA and moved to another county to avoid detection. The same person has a run-in with law enforcement in that county, resulting in a misdemeanor charge, and that agency calls the originating agency and is told they can not pick up that inmate to bring them back to the original county because they do not have room in the county detention center. Because it is a misdemeanor and the second detention center is also crowded, that suspect is released OR again and does not appear for their court date, is assigned an FTA warrant, moves to another county, and the cycle begins again. 'We have people out there with seven or eight FTA warrants,' Bradley said. Bradley said the cycle becomes self-perpetuating. Because the person can continue getting away with misdemeanor violations, they ultimately 'graduate' to a felony crime, he said. They are caught, go to court, are given a state prison sentence, and held at the county level until a bed opens up. Because of this a misdemeanor offender will not spend a possibly rehabilitating night in jail due to lack of space. Legislation for $750 million new prison funding filed in Arkansas legislature Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been pushing to construct a 3,000-bed $825 million prison in Franklin County to alleviate the county jail backlog. Sen. Bryan King (R-Green Forest) has proposed alternative programs, including the state partnering with county jails to build additional capacity there instead of a stand-alone state prison, citing cost. A $750 million funding package for the Franklin County prison is due for debate in the legislature's Joint Budget Committee during the current legislative session. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
