A blanket ban on visible tattoos remains set in ink for security staff of the Arkansas Department of Correction, at least for now, prison officials said Thursday.
The Board of Corrections approved a new grooming policy Thursday granting the prison director more leeway in setting standards for employees.
But the old rules are not going away yet. Before the board's vote, Department of Correction Director Wendy Kelley issued her new directive, which carried over much of the same guidelines for dress, shaving and hair dyes.
While reviewing the policy, prison officials added some updates, such as allowing female staff to wear acrylic nails. Jim DePriest, the department's chief counsel, said the tattoo prohibition stirred some of the longest debates internally.
Ultimately, the ban remained in place under Kelley's directive. But at least one member of the board said it was time to reconsider.
"If you don't [change the policy], you're eliminating employees that are desperately needed," said William "Dubs" Byers of the board.
There were nearly 3,600 assigned security positions at Arkansas' prisons last week, according to the department, but 472 positions remained unfilled.
Staffing vacancies at some prisons have led to shifts being worked by officers from other units. The employee shortage prompted some lawmakers last month to raise concerns about safety.
Byers joked that he was not thinking of getting a tattoo any time soon, but he said millennials in the workforce -- referring to the generation of people in their 20s and 30s -- were more likely to have already gone under the needle.
Under the department's grooming policy, officers get three short-sleeve shirts and three long-sleeved shirts. They are allowed to roll up sleeves in the summer. The new grooming policy also lowered the frequency with which officers would get replacement uniforms, to save money.
The old rules allowed for officers to buy flesh-colored sleeves to cover tattoos that would otherwise show on their arms. Kelley's directive says guards with visible arm tattoos would only be issued long-sleeve uniforms.
Responding to Byers, Kelley said officers with smaller tattoos could cover them up with bandages.
Prison spokesman Solomon Graves said the new rules requiring long-sleeve shirts were an "improvement" over the look of the flesh-colored sleeves. He said the department would continue to examine its grooming standards.
The board's policy must go before the governor for approval and Legislative Council for review.
The Department of Correction isn't the only law-enforcement agency in the state rethinking what to do about tattooed job applicants.
The Little Rock Police Department has a similar policy requiring officers keep their tattoos covered, said department spokesman, Lt. Steven McClanahan. He added the department is in the process of revising the rule.
There's no rule prohibiting Pulaski County sheriff's deputies and jail workers from showing their tattoos, as long as they are not deemed offensive, said Maj. Carl Minden, the department's commander of investigations and administrative support operations.
Minden said prohibiting tattoos would discourage or disqualify some of the most qualified job candidates.
"A lot [of employees] are ex-military," Minden said. "I know one guy who has a full tattoo of the Constitution on his arm."
Metro on 09/01/2017