Gov. seeks policy 'Safeguards' to fix state prison problems

MORE CELLS, MORE GUARDS ARE NOT THE QUICK ANSWER TO EXPLOSIVE NATURE OF LOCKUPS

Finally, it seems, the problems in the Arkansas Department of Correction are coming to the public light.

These problems are not pretty.

They will not be cheap.

Nor will they be easy to fix.

A pre-emptive story about a meeting with Gov. Asa Hutchison, Arkansas Prison Director Wendy Kelly and former Baxter County Sheriff and Arkansas State Prison Board Chairman Benny Magness was recently doled out to the media.

Such a move may have highlighted problems within the three administrative areas to navigate the landscape for change.

Magness, from Mountain Home, is a powerful political appointee on the Board of Correction, which helps to oversee the operations of the state prison system. He has been a frequent critic of Kelly and prison policies. At times he and the prison board seem at odds over legislative programs to eliminate the growing inmate population.

The meeting was held after the recent hospitalization of three guards after a string of violent incidents within the prison system over the last few weeks.

In the state's largest newspaper, Hutchinson was quoted as saying these acts "....causes me great concern that inmates attacked and injured corrections officers."

The governor went on to say he is asking for an action plan to address these safety concerns within the state's prison system. Adding to his statement, the governor said, "Director Kelly and her team have my full support as they address this challenge."

Chairman Magness, according to press reports, declined to comment on the meeting.

Is this sending a signal that perhaps the Correction Board and the current prison administration are not on the same page?

Does Magness support the governor's request for an action plan?

It would not be the first time in Arkansas' long and ugly history of state prisons for the board chairman to be crossways with the administration or the prison director.

What is known is that basic staffing at almost all the state's prisons is apparently deficient from budgeted staffing levels.

The security staff at the Tucker Maximum Security prison, where inmates have twice overpowered guards in the last few weeks, is about 24 percent below authorized force.

According to a statement to the press from Solomon Graves, the prison spokesman, Tucker Max is authorized to have 208 security positions, but there are 49 vacancies -- 45 correctional officers, three sergeants and one major are missing.

Does staffing explain the recent security breaches?

No one knows.

The legislature did make broad changes to the criminal justice system with Act 423, which went into effect Oct. 1. But these changes did not expand the number of prison beds.

And still the prison system is growing at 29 inmates a month, according to a spokesman for the ADC.

Currently, 16,243 prisoners are held by ADC in their facilities, with an additional 1,460 held in county jails.

The prison inmate numbers are growing and so is the unrest within the prison population -- apparently affecting multiple prisons.

Hutchison is correct to say that injuries to the men and women who are some of the lowest paid state employees are unacceptable.

But so are the safety and welfare of the men and women who have been sentenced to this overcrowded and unstable prison system.

This will not be easy to fix, change, implement or pay for with tax dollars.

It is just time someone did something before more are hurt or killed in the state's system.

MAYLON RICE IS A FORMER JOURNALIST WHO WORKED FOR SEVERAL NORTHWEST ARKANSAS PUBLICATIONS. HE CAN BE REACHED VIA EMAIL AT [email protected]. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.

Editorial on 10/11/2017