The Pulaski County jail reopened again Thursday after having been closed since July 1 to people arrested for minor, nonviolent offenses.
The restriction on new jail bookings was put in place to alleviate overcrowding caused by a backlog of state inmates in the jail.
About 6 a.m., the jail held 1,146 inmates, Pulaski County sheriff’s office Lt. Carl Minden said. The jail is funded to hold 1,210 inmates.
This wasn’t the first closure of the state’s largest jail this year. Starting April 29, the jail closed its doors for about six weeks to low-level offenders.
On Monday, Pulaski County and the state Department of Correction entered into a $1 contract to house state prisoners in an unused satellite facility near the jail for a year as part of an ongoing effort to reduce crowded conditions at county jails.