Hutchinson prison expansion, public safety plan to cost $64 million

Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced a prison reform plan Wednesday that will spend $64 million, including $32 million this biennium, to create an additional 790 beds – 288 of them leased in Texas – and seek to change behavior through investments in the parole system, a new societal re-entry system, and alternative sentencing arrangements for nonviolent offenders.

The state has more than 18,000 inmates in state prisons – a 17% growth rate, which he said is one of the largest in the nation – with a backlog of 2,500 state prisoners in county jails.

“It’s really backed up our system, and it cries out for immediate relief and a long-term solution,” he said.

Hutchinson called for spending about $50 million for more bed space rather than the $100 million advocated by some for a new prison. Those beds would come from a variety of sources, including through a contract with a county facility in Bowie County, Texas, where 288 prisoners would be housed at a cost of $36 per day. The rest of the prisoners would be farmed out to various locations in Arkansas, including 200 in county jail facilities, if the counties will take them.

Hutchinson said the long-term goal is to change behavior that has led to a recidivism rate of 43%. In 2014, 10,000 inmates were released from prison on parole. At that rate, an additional 4,300 beds will be needed over three years at a cost $9.5 million, he said.

“I think with this balanced investment, we have the greatest opportunity to change behavior,” he said. “And I’ll assure you that there’s not any guarantees here, but this is our best chance of trying to avoid building $100 million prisons every five years going into the future.”

The plan initially would be funded by $31 million coming from the Arkansas Insurance Department’s reserve fund and $2.6 million from unclaimed property recruitments. After two years, it would be absorbed into the regular budget.

In addition to the money spent for prison space, about $16 million will be spent for Department of Community Corrections initiatives for re-entry programs and alternative sentencing to change behavior “so that we’re not just simply building more and bigger prisons over the next decade.”

Of that, $7.5 million would be spent over the next biennium for additional parole and probation officers, support staff, and substance abuse treatment managers. The plan would also spend $5.5 million to create transitional re-entry centers for 500 parolees at a cost of $30.62 per inmate. Eligible parolees would be within six months of their parole eligibility date. The centers would provide work training and preparation to re-enter society. Hutchinson said it would be the first time that Arkansas has offered such a program.

“Right now, as you know, if you leave prison, you get $100 and a bus ride, a bus ticket, or something of similar fashion,” he said. “That is really not going to help reduce repeat offenders from going back in.”

Hutchinson said $2.8 million would be provided for grants to create alternative sentencing courts, with $100,000 available per judicial district over the next biennium.

Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Benton, said he and Rep. Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, will introduce a bill Thursday that will reflect Hutchinson’s priorities.

“You’ll see a lot more depth and meat on the treatment side of it, and then the bed space, which the governor outlined, which is necessary,” he said. “You’ve got to have a stick. … And then you’ll see a component in the bill tomorrow that exponentially expands our enforcement capabilities.”

He said he felt confident it would pass in the Senate.

Sen. David Sanders, R-Little Rock, said he will introduce the Public Safety Transparency and Accountability Act, which will increase the amount of information about inmates available to the general public. Inmates’ complete criminal record and their disciplinary records in prison are shielded from public view. He said another bill he will file this week would make the state’s sex offender database in compliance with federal law. Another bill would reduce the number of offenses subject to mandatory parole and expand the discretion of the Arkansas Parole Board for denying parole.