The Arkansas Legislative Council on Friday signed off on Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' request for a $104,000 appropriation transfer to increase the extra help appropriation in the governor's office to cover the cost of former Department of Corrections Secretary Joe Profiri serving as a special adviser in the governor's office in the fiscal year that ends June 30.
Without any debate, the council approved the recommendation of its Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Subcommittee for the council to complete its review of the governor office's request. The subcommittee's recommendation Tuesday came in a voice vote over a handful of audible dissenting state lawmakers.
The governor office's office requested the council review the $104,000 appropriation transfer to increase the extra help appropriation in fiscal year 2024, with Profiri assuming the special adviser job in an extra help position in the governor's office Jan. 12 at a salary of $201,669.89, according to state records.
Under Act 885 of 2023, the extra help appropriation in the governor's office is $8,789 in fiscal 2024. The operations appropriation in the governor's office totals $6 million in fiscal 2024.
Profiri's salary was $210,000.13 as secretary of the state Department of Corrections, according to the Arkansas Transparency website. In January 2023, the Legislature's Joint Budget Committee approved salaries for four department secretaries, including Profiri, that exceeded the maximum salary of $201,700 a year. Profiri formerly served as deputy director at the Arizona Department of Corrections.
On Jan. 10, the state Board of Corrections voted 5-2 to terminate Profiri, four weeks after suspending him and banning him from the Department of Corrections administrative building. The board and Profiri had battled over opening certain prison beds.
After Profiri's firing, Sanders announced she had hired him as a senior adviser in her office. At that time, the Republican governor sharply criticized the state Board of Corrections.
"We firmly support Joe Profiri as Secretary of Corrections and are proud of the accomplishments we've achieved together," Sanders said at the time. "During ongoing litigation, Joe Profiri will be serving as a senior advisor to me in my office. I'm confident that Attorney General [Tim Griffin] will successfully defend the law in court."
Arkansas House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, said Friday in an interview that "for where we are at right now, I think it made sense to go ahead and review that [appropriation transfer to increase the extra help appropriation] ... and I am good with what the governor's office was doing with regard to bringing [Profiri] into her office in particular.
"We passed legislation back in the [2023 regular] session to provide for certain changes related to how we do corrections, and I realize that there is litigation ongoing and that there will be further court decisions on it," he said.
On Tuesday, Senate Democratic leader Greg Leding of Fayetteville and Republican senators Jimmy Hickey of Texarkana and Scott Flippo of Mountain Home were among the handful of lawmakers who dissented in their voice votes to recommend the Legislative Council approve the governor's office request for the $104,000 appropriation transfer.
Hickey said Tuesday in an interview that "I think the amount that is being paid" to Profiri is excessive, noting that Profiri is being paid more than any other employee in the governor's office, including the chief of staff. The governor's chief of staff, Gretchen Conger, is paid a salary of $160,000, according to the Arkansas Transparency website. Sanders' annual salary is $163,501 a year, according to the Arkansas Transparency website.
In response to a question from Leding on Tuesday, state Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson defended Profiri's salary in the governor's office.
"Secretary Profiri is very, very experienced in corrections, and [with] his career experience in corrections it's an appropriate salary for him," Hudson said while noting that Sanders is comfortable with Profiri's salary level.
Hickey added Tuesday that "On a larger basis, I am one of those who is sitting back and watching what's going on between the [Board of] Corrections and the governor's office, and I don't agree with that, the way that has been handled."
The Board of Corrections' decision to terminate Profiri came after two months of wrangling between the board and Profiri, whom Chairman Benny Magness and other board members have accused of being insubordinate and uncommunicative.
Profiri is named, along with Sanders and the Department of Corrections, in a lawsuit filed by the Board of Corrections. The board aims in the suit to maintain authority to supervise and manage the corrections secretary, as well as the directors of the Department of Corrections' Division of Correction and Division of Community Correction.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Patricia James has issued a preliminary injunction barring the enforcement of Act 185 of 2023 and portions of Act 659 of 2023, which the board contends weaken the board's authority under Amendment 33 to the Arkansas Constitution. Act 185 would require the secretary of corrections to serve at the pleasure of the governor, and Act 659 would require directors of the Department of Corrections' Divisions of Correction and Community Correction to serve at the pleasure of the secretary.
Act 185 of 2023 was sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs. Act 659 of 2023 was sponsored by Sen. Ben Gilmore, R-Crossett.
Asked if he expects corrections legislation to be proposed in response to the court case, Shepherd, who is an attorney, said Friday "it stands to reason that no matter what the outcome is that we take a look at it and determine are there things that need to be changed going forward, or it may be that everything is fine just the way it is."