An increase in felony cases coming out of the Arkansas Department of Corrections led to the agency coming to an agreement with the Office of the Prosecutor Coordinator to hire a deputy prosecuting attorney whose sole responsibility will be to handle the prison-related cases.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lisa McGriff was selected this month to handle the prosecution of offenses occurring at prisons, specifically in Jefferson and Lincoln counties and possibly Lee County.
Cindy Murphy, spokeswoman for the department, said McGriff was needed in the 1st and 11th West judicial circuits, because those are the areas where the maximum security units are located.
"Those units drive the majority of our Arkansas State Police referrals," she said Friday in an email.
The Corrections Department either investigates incidents in-house or notifies the Arkansas State Police to request outside investigations. Upon completion of the investigation, the Department of Corrections requests that violators be prosecuted.
Murphy said that in 2020, state police referred 218 cases to prosecutors.
"The cases included inmates having contraband cell phones, battery on staff, battery on inmates and sexual misconduct," she said.
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter, who will be McGriff's supervisor, said a dedicated prosecuting attorney for the Department of Corrections was a great need. He said there are eight prison facilities in that judicial circuit, and in the past, cases from the prison were passed between the deputy prosecutors on staff.
"We have filed many more cases coming out of the ADC over the last couple years then we have had in the past," he said in an interview Friday. "The ADC felt like it would be good to have someone dedicated to these cases and it will free up my other deputy prosecutors to do some free world crimes. This was beneficial for both offices."
Prison officials agreed to provide funding for the position, which has a starting annual salary of $62,531.
"We have a lot of people who work in the Department of Corrections in this district and it's important when officers are attacked at their job or when they have urine or feces thrown on them to prosecute the people and hold them responsible," Hunter said. "They are victims of crimes just like anyone else."
The Board of Corrections approved in July a memorandum of understanding between the department, the Office of the Prosecutor Coordinator and the Jefferson County prosecuting attorney's office.
The terms of the agreement stated the Office of the Prosecutor Coordinator agreed to provide a deputy prosecuting attorney position to be utilized for the purpose of prosecuting cases originating out of the Department of Corrections.
The cases prosecuted will include, but are not limited to: inmate indecent exposures; throwing of bodily fluids on prison staff; and contraband violations.
"Every year, the DOC has a number of incidents occurring within their facilities for which prosecution is appropriate," the memorandum stated. "For example, inmate[s] oftentimes: throw bodily fluids on correctional staff members; expose their genitals to correctional staff; and smuggle in contraband, such as cellphones and drugs."