LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas Sheriff’s Association is making a lobbying effort in support of a new prison for the state.
The association has created a resolution for county quorum courts to review and pass, affirming the need for state prison space. The resolution includes statistics on inmate population growth and the strain this is placing on county detention centers.
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The association has also written a letter containing the same statistics that is being sent to members of the legislature, the governor and each Board of Corrections member.
According to the letter, signed by association director Scott Bradley and president Sheriff John Staley, Arkansas has not opened a prison since the Ouachita River Unit in 2003. Since opening that prison, the state population has grown from 2.7 million to 3.08 million.
While projections by the nationally recognized JFA Institute have projected Arkansas prison population growth, calling for “thousands of additional state prison beds to accommodate the growing population of violent felons,” the state has not expanded its capacity, per the letter. Because of this, over the past 10 years, county jails in the state have housed an average of 1,687 inmates each day.
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The same projections show Arkansas with an inmate population of 23,697 by 2032, up from the 18,756 inmates through April of this year. By 2032, projections show the state needing an additional 5,000 prison beds.
Statistics continue to show how this is impacting the county jails’ ability to house misdemeanor inmates, since felons are taking up so much of the space
“The chronic overcrowding of the state prison system has led to the demise of misdemeanor justice and accountability through the inability of many county jails to hold misdemeanants, creating a deterioration of public safety, accountability, and respect for the rule of law and the criminal justice system,” the association’s letter states.
Bradley had previously referred to the current need for prison beds as leading to a “failure of the misdemeanor justice system” in Arkansas.
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