BRYANT — Arkansas prisons officials have fired dozens of employees this year for indiscretions ranging from failed drug tests to sleeping on the job.
Records obtained by The Associated Press show the state is struggling to find the right people to work with its criminals, even as the prison population doubled in the past 20 years to more than 16,000 inmates.
One substance abuse program leader was fired after he tested positive for the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. A dozen other employees were sacked for missing work and three were fired for sleeping on the job.
The state’s overburdened correction system has faced scrutiny over its workers’ disciplinary records before. Some of the sins have been more serious, including the near-death of an inmate whom guards left covered in excrement in 2009.