Gov. Sanders nominates Lindsay Wallace for Corrections Secretary

Gov. Sarah Sanders on Thursday (Feb. 8) named Lindsay Wallace as a nominee for Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Corrections. The nominee, who would replace former Secretary Joe Profiri, must be approved by the Arkansas Senate and the Arkansas Board of Corrections (BOC).

Wallace has served as chief of staff at the department since August of 2020.

“The safety of all Arkansans is my priority. I have a responsibility as Governor to ensure our Department of Corrections operates under qualified leadership. I know that Lindsay has the experience to lead the department and will work diligently to expand prison capacity and end the failed policy of catch and early release,” said Gov. Sanders.

Wallace has worked in state government since 2007. She began her career writing policy with the Department of Human Services before transitioning to the legal section of the Arkansas Sentencing Commission in 2009. While at the commission, she worked with stakeholders in other criminal justice agencies on legal issues pertaining to sentencing and consulted on legislative proposals impacting Corrections Department resources.

Wallace joined the Corrections Department in 2019 as the director of the Arkansas Sentencing Commission. In August of 2020, she began her tenure as chief of staff for the Department of Corrections and remains in that role today.

“It is an honor to be selected by Governor Sanders to lead this Department and enact her bold vision for Arkansas’ corrections system. Throughout my years in criminal justice work, I’ve seen how the status quo has failed crime victims, failed public safety, and failed our state. I am committed to working with all stakeholders, the Governor, the legislature, and Board of Corrections to ensure we fix our corrections system. I’m glad the Governor has put her trust in me to do so,” said Wallace.

Sanders said she met with Board of Corrections Chair Benny Magness on Wednesday and spoke individually with the other board members about the appointment.

“I appreciate Governor Sanders taking the time to meet with me yesterday and for the nomination of Lindsay Wallace as Secretary of the Department of Corrections. The board will take action on the governor’s nomination as soon as we can get all members present for a meeting,” Magness said in a statement to the press.

Sanders’ move comes after Magness asked the governor to consider either Mark Hollingsworth or Solomon Graves as nominees for Corrections Secretary.

Graves served as chief of staff to former Corrections Secretary Wendy Kelley and was promoted to the top post when Kelley retired in July 2020. Hollingsworth is a former Arkansas State Trooper worked with the Highway Patrol Division and the Criminal Investigation Division (CID). He retired from the department March 1, 2021.

“Their relevant training, experience, and judgment make them abundantly qualified, and I would expect that the Board would approve either candidate if you ultimately supply a nominee,” Magness wrote in a letter dated Feb. 1 about Hollingsworth and Graves.

The move also follows months of conflict between Gov. Sanders and the BOC. Problems between the BOC and Sanders and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin went public on Nov. 17 when Sanders and Griffin held a press conference during which the governor blasted the BOC for rejecting most of a request to provide more than 600 additional beds in the prison system. The BOC is the governing body of the state’s prison system. BOC members at the time contended that the prison system lacked the staff to responsibly add more beds.

The BOC initially suspended Profiri for acting against BOC decisions, and would fire Profiri on Jan. 10 in a 5-2 vote.

Sanders and Griffin asserted that Acts 185 and 659, passed in the 2023 Legislative Session, give the governor direct authority over leadership at the Department of Corrections. The BOC on Dec. 14 filed lawsuits in Pulaski County Circuit Court challenging the constitutionality of sections of Acts 185 and 659. The BOC claims that Amendment 33, ratified in 1942, does not allow a governor to take direct control of the state’s prison system.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Patricia James on Jan. 19 ruled for the BOC and granted a restraining order preventing Sanders and Griffin from exercising authority under Acts 185 and 659.

The BOC on Jan. 31 hired former Republican Arkansas Senator Eddie Joe Williams as interim executive in charge, but Williams would resign the post less than a week later saying the political climate prevented him from accomplishing his goal of working to resolve the issue between the BOC and Gov. Sanders.