The Arkansas Department of Correction announced Tuesday a plan to address safety concerns within the state's prison system after a series of violent incidents at several maximum security facilities.
Changes include constructing controlled access points inside the entrances to general population barracks at all maximum security facilities, upgrading security equipment, renovating recreation areas and converting about 400 existing general population cells to restrictive housing for inmates with disciplinary violations.
"This plan will increase the safety in our maximum security facilities," agency director Wendy Kelley said in a news release.
The department will reportedly reallocate existing money to implement the plan.
The announcement comes after a string of violent incidents, including multiple assaults on guards, at maximum security facilities, which prompted Gov. Asa Hutchinson in September to request a plan from the department, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
"I appreciate Director Kelley's swift action per my request for options to better safeguard our prison facilities and reduce the violence within," Hutchinson said in a written statement Tuesday. "Based upon my discussions with her, these are items that should be started immediately, while we consider additional and longer-term options in the weeks and months ahead."
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.