Hutchinson unveils prison plan

Governor calls for more space, parole reforms, alternative sentencing

Gov. Asa Hutchinson lays out his plans for the state prison system Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015, at the state Capitol in Little Rock.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson lays out his plans for the state prison system Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015, at the state Capitol in Little Rock.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday announced a three-pronged plan to alleviate crowding in the state's prisons, including opening nearly 800 new beds at various facilities, including one in Texas.

Hutchinson said his plan — which also includes hiring new parole and probation officers, creating the state's first transitional reentry center program and offering some nonviolent offenders alternative sentences — will cost $32 million in the first two years. He described it as a $64 million plan in total, noting the first investment will be covered by a $31 million reserve at the state Insurance Department and $2.6 million from unclaimed property recruitments.

"This plan not only invests in more prison space, but it gives us a hope for changed behavior, more accountability and so that we are not having to build repeated 1,000 bed prisons," Hutchinson said, saying it addresses an "urgent need."

Hutchinson said the prison space will be in the form of 790 new beds, including 288 in a Bowie County, Texas facility. Arkansas will pay $36 a day per inmate there.

More than 250 beds will be added to different existing state facilities and 200 further beds will be created through contracts with counties around the state if they choose to participate, Hutchinson said.

The plan also includes money to hire 52 new parole and probation officers, support staff and substance abuse treatment managers.

"This will enhance public safety by reducing caseloads," Hutchinson said. "It will enhance public safety by providing for more accountability of those that are on parole."

Transitional reentry centers are also funded in the proposal, a $5.5 million program that will "quickly" move online for 500 offenders, Hutchinson said. He said that program will be for offenders within 6 months of their release date, offering work training.

"Right now ... if you leave prison, you get $100 and a bus ticket," he said. "That is really not going to help reduce repeat offenders from going back in. They need an opportunity. The reentry centers will help them find their way back into society."

About $2.8 million, meanwhile, will go toward alternative sentencing grants for drug treatment courts and other alternative sentencing programs for nonviolent offenders, Hutchinson said.

"This is a significant, significant opportunity for the state of Arkansas and a very substantial investment the taxpayers will make to increase public safety but also to change behavior and increase accountability so that we can make sure we're not simply building more and bigger prisons over the next decade," he said.

The lack of bed space in Arkansas' prison system has caused a significant backlog of some 2,500 state inmates in county jails across the state, including Pulaski County. That facility has on multiple occasions had to close its doors to nonviolent offenders because it was too crowded.

In a statement before he spoke, Hutchinson called the prison overcrowding problem a "dangerous chain reaction that puts public safety at risk," noting that it could "jeopardize" other state budgets if not addressed. Hutchinson then spoke to a packed room crowded with prison officials, state legislators, county judges and sheriffs and more.

"As every sheriff and prosecutor will tell you, there is a crying need for more prison space," Hutchinson said in the statement. "The lack of bed space in prison has resulted in the current backlog in the county jails, repeat offenders being released on bond because there is no room in the county facility, and continued use of the Emergency Powers Act that provides early release from prison because of overcrowding."

Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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