Arkansas buys 815 acres for nearly $3 million to build new prison

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas has purchased land for $2.95 million to build a new prison that officials hope will reduce the state’s backlog of inmates in county jails, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and corrections officials announced Thursday.

The state announced it has acquired 815 acres (330 hectares) in Charleston, located about 106 miles (170 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock. The state Board of Corrections must approve the prison before construction begins.

“This new facility will help end our dysfunctional detention and parole system and protect our communities by keeping violent criminals off our streets,” Sanders said in a press release. “For Charleston, Franklin County and the River Valley, it will offer hundreds of permanent, recession-proof jobs and millions of dollars in investment.”

Prison officials have not given an exact estimate of how much the new prison will cost or when they hope to begin construction. Sanders, a Republican, has called for 3,000 new prison beds, and lawmakers allocated $330 million for the effort last year. An additional $75 million is also available for the project, which was originally earmarked for a cell block expansion.

About 2,500 state inmates are currently housed in county jails.

Corrections officials said that once the new prison is built, it will employ about 800 people with an average salary of more than $46,600.

“I am proud to work with Governor Sanders to address the long-standing challenges facing our corrections system and am grateful for her bold actions to address Arkansas’ prison bed shortage through this new facility,” the board chairman said in a statement. Arkansas Correctional Institutions Benny Magness. . “This facility demonstrates our full commitment to building a better prison system and a safer nation.”

Last year, Sanders signed changes to state sentencing laws that eliminated parole eligibility for some violent crimes. Critics say the changes could further burden an already overcrowded prison system.

The prison project is moving forward a year after Sanders publicly clashed with the Board of Corrections over control of the state’s prison system. An Arkansas judge last year blocked a law that would have stripped the board of authority over the state corrections secretary and other top officials. The council challenged the law, arguing it violated the state constitution.

The state appealed the ruling against the law, and the case is pending before the Arkansas Supreme Court.

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