By STEVE BRAWNER
What if, instead of spending years constructing a billion-dollar prison, and locating it in a community that doesn’t want it at a site that seems ill-suited, the state partnered with counties to expand local jail facilities and house lower-level inmates closer to home?
That idea was presented by Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, in a press conference at the Capitol Jan. 8.
He is drafting a bill specifying that the state should take $400 million that’s currently allotted to build a prison in Charleston, add $200 million out of surplus funds, and instead expand county facilities like one being built in Madison County.
The state could scatter inmates convicted of lesser crimes in such places, rather than construct the equivalent of a new town with 3,800 residents including 3,000 inmates and 800 staff members.
“And then we get almost immediate relief rather than trying to wait five years for a big mega prison, which we’ve seen just doesn’t happen the way these people promise,” he said.
The prison was originally touted by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and others to cost $470 million. King pointed to Alabama and Utah, which have built or are building prisons that cost far more than originally estimated and far more than $470 million. He called the planned prison “a financial debacle waiting to happen.”
King presented Board of Corrections figures showing that two-thirds of the state’s inmates are originating from eight counties. Those are Pulaski at 21% followed by Sebastian at 8.6%, Washington at 8%, Benton at 7.1%, Faulkner at 6.5%, Saline at 5.5%, Jefferson at 5.4%, and Crawford at 4.5%. He said the facilities should be located in those or in nearby counties. Doing so would save on costs and provide families easier access to inmates, which perhaps could reduce recidivism rates.
King has been an outspoken opponent of the plan to build the 3,000-bed prison in Charleston in western Arkansas. The 815-acre site was chosen without input from local residents, and many are not happy about it. The opponents don’t want their quiet town to become a prison community. They say the community doesn’t really need the jobs and doesn’t have the workforce to staff the prison. The senator noted the site lacks road infrastructure and utility services.
Others disagree, of course – including, and this is really important, the governor. Sanders’ spokesperson Sam Dubke told Talk Business & Politics that the prison will bring Franklin County hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Placing the burden of long-term incarceration on county jails is a failed strategy and a disservice to communities and inmates alike,” he said.
Some county jails have been bursting at the seams because they’ve been housing inmates for whom state prison beds are unavailable. That problem will only get worse unless more beds are built. The Protect Act of 2023 that authorized the prison also stiffened criminal penalties and reduced parole eligibility. As a result, Arkansas will have more inmates, and they’ll be staying in prison longer.
They’ll have to be locked up somewhere. Incoming Speaker of the House Brian Evans, R-Cabot, told KARK’s Capitol View television show that the prison’s location is “solely an executive branch decision.” He believes it will be built at the Charleston site.
Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, told the Arkansas Advocate that lawmakers are “doing right by the people of Arkansas.” He said King is entitled to his opinion, but “one has to have credibility and influence with their colleagues to actually be successful.”
What Hester was referring to was the fact that King is an outspoken, against-the-grain political outsider and maverick who can be quite critical of his fellow elected officials, including those in leadership positions.
The upside of his approach is that he definitely calls things as he seems them. There’s a need for that.
The downside is that sometimes it can make it harder for a lawmaker to persuade his colleagues to pass good ideas, of which his prison plan very well might be one.
Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist published in 17 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.
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