The Pulaski County jail's chief of detention retired last week after 17 years overseeing the largest county lockup in Arkansas.
Randy Morgan, 64, was hired to run the facility four years after it was built in 1994, guiding it through periods of expansion and cuts under two sheriffs, and dealing with perpetual overcrowding.
Sheriff's office Maj. Mike Sylvester will take over for Morgan.
Morgan, who had been a warden and administrator with the Arkansas Department of Correction, arrived at a jail that had been overcrowded almost since the day it opened. The jail was capable of holding 960 inmates when Morgan became chief of detention under former sheriff Randy Johnson, but the population routinely hovered above 1,000.
But Morgan kept things running smoothly, Johnson said.
"He was a perfect fit for this place. ... There have been a lot of nights where I slept well because of Randy. He did a good job," Johnson said, speaking Wednesday at Morgan's retirement ceremony.
Several modest expansions over the years brought the population cap to 1,130, but a county budget crisis in 2005 slashed jail funds by $6 million and reduced its number of beds to 880. The jail began operating at full capacity again in late 2010, and it grew to hold 1,210 inmates.
Morgan, who lives in Hot Springs, said managing the fluctuating inmate population was his biggest challenge.
"Chasing bed space, the day-to-day hunt to find empty beds to lock up the people that need to be locked up, it's a never-ending search for bed space," Morgan said.
That search intensified in 2013, when the Arkansas prison population increased 17.7 percent and county jails began holding more state prisoners. Citing overcrowding, Morgan and Sheriff Doc Holladay closed the jail to nonviolent offenders on three occasions, amounting to 105 days last year.
State and local officials Wednesday lauded Morgan's handling of the situation, saying that under extraordinary circumstances, he still came through for law enforcement agencies across Arkansas.
"Inevitably, he would find space for us [in the jail]," U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas Chris Thyer said.
Arkansas State Police Director Col. Bill Bryant, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Arkansas Chip Massanelli and County Judge Barry Hyde also spoke to that Wednesday.
"I want you to know that Pulaski County and the constituents you have in Pulaski County really appreciate your work, more than they realize," Hyde told Morgan.
Holladay presented Morgan with his jail badge and identification, service handgun and a plaque at Wednesday's ceremony.
"This man really has been a great public servant, not only to Pulaski County but to the state," Holladay said. "He's recognized in the law enforcement community all through this state for his knowledge of corrections, his willingness to help other law enforcement agencies and jail administrators in doing the function and responsibility they have. So we're going to miss him."
Several of Morgan's colleagues affectionately referred to him as "chief," describing him as family-oriented and compassionate toward inmates.
Morgan -- a tall, bespectacled man with a thick southern accent -- said there were great rewards at his job.
"You see some inmates that get their lives changed around. They go on and don't return. There's not as many as you would like, but you do see some people make some life changes. And it gives me a good feeling -- it always has -- when you truly help somebody turn their life around," he said.
An avid fisherman, Morgan said he plans to spend many days of his retirement on the water. He said he'll also spend time with his wife, who retired a day before him.
Sylvester officially takes over as chief of detention July 1. He's a nine-year veteran of the sheriff's office who spent the previous 33 years with the Little Rock Police Department, where he retired as a captain. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Sylvester will begin the job five months after Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced a three-point plan to reduce prison overcrowding and ease the number of state offenders in county jails. The plan involves increasing the number of prison beds, hiring new parole and probation officers and expanding alternative sentencing programs.
Sylvester said he'll approach the job the same way Morgan did.
"There's nothing you can do with this any differently than what Chief Morgan has done except manage the population. The way I see it, as someone who's new to the business, is the Department of Correction backup that they have around the state is the cause of the issues that all the county jails have. And Gov. Hutchinson has taken initial steps to address that, but we've got a long way to go," he said.
There were 1,153 inmates at the jail Friday, below its capacity of 1,210. State prisoners accounted for 411 of those being held.
Metro on 06/15/2015