LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Board of Corrections, which is the governing body of the Department of Corrections, voted on Dec. 14 to suspend Secretary of Corrections Joe Profiri.
A spokesperson for the department confirmed that the board voted 4-2 to suspend Profiri. The secretary is barred from any property owned or operated by the Dept. of Corrections, according to a letter sent to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
The suspension of the secretary came during a specially called meeting of the board in regard to a letter from Attorney General Tim Griffin.
In the letter, Griffin asserts that the board violated Arkansas law on Dec. 8 when it convened in an executive session and retained outside counsel without his authorization.
“We are reviewing the board’s actions but remain troubled that they continue to violate the law regarding compliance with the Freedom of Information Act and the unauthorized hiring of an outside counsel,” Griffin said in a statement.
Board members also reportedly voted to file a lawsuit challenging a set of new laws that make the corrections secretary "answerable to the governor and not the board," according to an Arkansas Business report.
The lawsuit is against Sanders, Profiri, and the Dept. of Correction to "challenge the constitutionality of Acts 185 and 659."
Then on Friday, Dec. 15, a Pulaski County judge said the decision to suspend Profiri could remain in place pending a hearing. Meanwhile, Griffin filed his own lawsuit against the seven members of the board over hiring outside counsel and what he called "illegal" executive sessions.
In the lawsuit, he is asking the court to void the contract with outside counsel, to reverse the board's decisions to appoint an acting executive in charge of the department, and to "order the board to fully respond to my FOIA request."
“The Board of Corrections has shown a complete disregard for the law, so I am asking the court to step in to compel compliance," Griffin said.
Those two laws amended Arkansas's 33rd Amendment to state that the secretary of corrections answers to the governor rather than the board.
This is the latest move as the corrections board faces pressure by the attorney general, the governor, and Sec. Profiri to add more prison beds to an already overcrowded prison system.
The Sanders administration went over the heads of the board to add hundreds of new beds earlier in December, according to an Associated Press report. Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for Sanders, said the decision came after the board added 124 beds at one prison but rejected adding 368 more beds to two other prisons.
The board has argued that because of staffing issues, they have hesitated adding the requested beds as well as continued concerns regarding overcrowding issues. The board has also cited safety for both staff and inmates.