WASHINGTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — The Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition (AJRC), a local organization dedicated to ending mass incarceration, has filed a lawsuit against Washington County alleging that officials misused federal COVID funds.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Western District of Arkansas, headquartered in Fayetteville.
The lawsuit alleges that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the county received $46 million in federal funding in response to the public health emergency and its economic impacts.
The coalition "works to end mass incarceration led by the voices of the families and individuals of those directly impacted. We envision a community that centers safety, prevention of harm, and alternatives to incarceration," according to its website.
In court documents, the group is described as a "grassroots tax-exempt nonprofit corporation."
AJRC Funding Request
According to the lawsuit, filed June 4, the issue AJRC takes with the county began during the pandemic, when the county allegedly opted to divert funds from nonprofits to an unpopular jail expansion.
"The AJRC's organizational purpose is to advocate for criminal justice reform and ameliorate the second-hand effects of incarceration. The AJRC sought a grant from Washington County for an approved use of funds and was denied for favor of a noncompliant use of funds," the lawsuit said.
The suit claims that in 2021, the U.S. government authorized $350 billion to "shore up a social and economic landscape ravaged by COVID-19," funds that were meant to cover costs incurred due to the pandemic.
Of those funds, $65 billion when to county governments, and of that, Washington County received $46 million, half in June 2021 and half in June 2022, all "conditioned on the response to COVID-19 and its negative economic impacts," the lawsuit said. AJRC notes that this includes assistance to nonprofits.
AJRC Denied Funding
The lawsuit claims that at least two nonprofits were granted funds without the need for an application, while 46 that applied were denied funding.
According to the lawsuit, in December 2021, UPSKILL NWA sought $2.9 million of the funds to train healthcare workers. Washington County Quorum Court approved the group's request without any application process.
The suit adds that in October 2022, a Washington County employee sought funds for Returning Home, a nonprofit that operates a diversion program for men who would otherwise be housed in the Washington County Jail. Returning Home was then granted some funding without an application process.
"All other nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations were subjected to an application process," AJRC claims.
The lawsuit says that AJRC issued an application for $290,000 to fund two care managers that would assist low-income populations, regardless of gender, affected by the criminal justice system with navigating challenges surrounding housing, employment, and legal difficulties.
"Just like the Returning Home use of funds, this would have helped alleviate the jail population at the Washington County Jail by ending the population's involvement in the criminal justice system," the complaint said. "Unlike the Returning Home use of funds, this benefit would have aided women. Returning Home only serves men."
AJRC says in the complaint that the application "satisfied regulatory presumptions which were designed to facilitate the determination of eligible uses of funds."
"AJRC's application would have served low-income households and underemployed individuals, both which are 'presumed to be disproportionately impacted' by COVID, by connecting the population to job training, assisting them with their job search, and more generally empower them with the skills and confidence to thrive as active participants in the community to break the jail cycle," the lawsuit states.
AJRC's application was one of 46 seeking around $30 million of the funds the county had.
Seven applications asking for a combined $564,481 were approved by the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District, a group that aided in the process. However, the county allegedly never approved any of the recommended applications.
"Washington County never approved any of the applications recommended by the district. The only nonprofits who received any of the federal funds were those that were never subjected to any public oversight in the first place," the suit claimed.
Jail Expansion Unsuccessful
AJRC says that instead of accepting their application, Washington County allocated the funds to construct new jail facilities, citing a failed expansion attempt in 2019 as what prompted this.
AJRC's complaint also cites a study the county commissioned in 2019, which recommended alternatives to expanding the jail to address the increasing number of inmates, such as expanding drug court and drug and alcohol addiction treatment, among other things.
"The Washington County Jail has not implemented the recommended policies. If it did, the jail overcrowding issues would be addressed without jail expansion," AJRC said in the lawsuit.
AJRC says that the denial is rooted in the county's alleged desire to expand the jail system despite the fact that it may not solve the issue and was strongly opposed multiple times, including in a special election held on Nov. 8, 2022.
"The measure failed, with 59% of voters against jail expansion," the complaint said.
AJRC says that just a month after the vote for expansion failed, the county adopted an ordinance that appropriated $8.8 million in federal funds to expand the jail.
The coalition also claims that Washington County lacks the financial resources to construct the new jail facility without misappropriating federal funds. As of February 29, 2024, Washington County only had $2.091 million in unappropriated reserves, while the amount necessary to construct the facility is around $18 million.
"Washington County was entrusted with federal funds to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. Washington County is instead using the funds to expand its jail facilities, which runs afoul of regulatory guidance," the complaint said.
The lawsuit requests a jury trial. Additionally, it requests that the plaintiff receive $290,000 plus interest, declare the county's use of the federal funds as unlawful, permanently enjoin the county from using the funds to construct a new jail, and order defendant to pay attorney's fees.
AJRC held a press conference about the lawsuit on June 4 at the organization's office in Fayetteville.
"This was our last possible action that we have to try to turn in another direction before we'd hit the deadline that currently says to use these monies, [you have] to have them allocated by the end of 2024," Sarah Moore, Executive Director for AJRC, said at the press conference.
"The community has asked over the last couple of years for other alternatives. We were resounding whenever this has come to the ballot, said no to jail expansion and additional taxation to support that," Moore explained.
Moore said she believes there's many other resources the county could use these funds for.
"I am hopeful that the courts will look at it, and we'll evaluate and make sure that the taxpayers get a fair shake on this, and that we have an opportunity for our generations today, but also this will impact folks in the future as well," Moore said.
Washington County Judge Patrick Deakins declined comment to 5NEWS in response to the lawsuit as they generally don't talk about ongoing litigation.
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