NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on Monday that he is committed to finding funding for additional space for thousands of state inmates crowding local jails.
Hutchinson told a group of county judges that any plan addressing prison overcrowding must include the additional space but said he wanted to avoid constructing the 1,000-bed prison corrections officials have said they need.
Hutchinson later told reporters he was still reviewing where funding for the additional space would come from and the options available to the state. Hutchinson's proposed $5.2 billion budget for the coming year boosts funding for the state's prison system but did not include money for additional space.
Hutchinson also said prison plans should include efforts to change behavior among the state's parolees and probationers.
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.