WASHINGTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Tuesday, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed off on a plan to expand prisons and sentencing for some criminal offenders and create tougher punishments for drug crimes... 5NEWS reached out to Benton, Washington, Crawford, and Sebastian counties to get their thoughts on the plan.
"The parole system is broken," said Washington County Sheriff Jay Cantrell.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders' signature Protect Arkansas Act is looking to fix the "broken" system, although not everyone is behind it.
"I voted against this bill," said District 21 Rep. Nicole Clowney (D). "We know that longer sentences and higher rates of incarceration are not things that actually prevent crime."
Despite voting against it, Clowney says the bill has some positives. Such as specialty courts to address drug use and mental health issues.
Starting in 2025 those that have been found guilty of serious crimes including second-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault will have to serve 85% of their sentence before they're eligible for supervised release.
Beginning next year, in 2024, people who are found guilty of especially violent crimes like capital murder or rape will no longer be eligible for parole at all.
"So, that we can teach them some life skills while they are in prison," Cantrell said. He believes it should cut down on repeat offenders, but he says he and other sheriffs are facing overcrowding issues.
"Our county jails are really struggling right now," Clowney said. "There's no doubt about that."
"Their [county jails] design and their function is to hold people until they go to court," said Cantrell.
With state prisons full, county jails are picking up the slack.
"What we have become is an arm of the prison," Cantrell said. "We're holding people who have been convicted."
He says, right now, Washington County is housing 160 inmates waiting to go to prison. "On any given day we'll have 150 or 60 sleeping on the floor."
In a statement sent to 5NEWS, Sebastian County Sheriff Hobe Runion wrote:
- "The Protect Arkansas Act will pay large dividends for the citizens of Arkansas in the future. Our population has grown but we haven’t added prisons for years. In addition, our violent crime rate rose dramatically. 3000 prison beds will alleviate most of the 2000 jail beds that are taken up by state prisoners in county jails. This forced incarceration of state prisoners in county jails effectively takes away the authority of the district courts by not allowing the Judges to incarcerate on misdemeanor charges. The long-term result of this practice means that there is not any punishment or diversion, so the misdemeanor violators end up committing felonies.
- It also will provide real job training to prison inmates so that they will have a means of earning a viable living wage when they are released. It should cut down on repeat offenders as well.
- Currently, many inmates are only serving two months on a year. This includes many violent offenders. There is no “truth in sentencing”. This act will mandate certain violent offenders will do 100% of their sentence, some less violent offenders 85%, and other nonviolent offenders would serve 50% or 25%, depending on the crime."
The governor's plan to add 3,000 more prison beds will come at a $470 million cost.
"The roots of crime start before people even walk through the doors of a jail," Clowney said. "We have to address poverty and education."
"Until we find alternatives to the law, I think we have to go with what we have," said Cantrell.
Governor Sanders also shared that the act will offer millions of dollars in incentives to bring more correctional staff to Arkansas.
Although it's not clear exactly when new prison construction will start, the state's secretary of corrections says he hopes to open 500 new beds at current facilities soon.
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