Hold on Franklin County prison plan viewed with ‘guarded optimism’ by one opponent

The push by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders to build a large state prison in Franklin County may be on the back burner, but Adam Watson said those who oppose the prison likely view the hold with “guarded optimism” and are not wholly convinced the project is dead.

Rand Champion, chief of communications with the Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC), said Tuesday (April 14) that a lack of funding has the prison project on hold.

“The project has been on hold for several months now with no new developments on the DOC side,” he said in a statement. “No work has been done outside of routine maintenance and upkeep.”

In her budget for the ongoing fiscal legislative session, Sanders asked legislators to set aside $75 million previously approved for the prison to instead by approved “for the purpose of creating capacity, including expansion of recidivism reduction programs, infrastructure improvements, capital improvements, and the addition of bed space to relieve county jails of state inmates.”

Gov. Sanders and other state officials announced Oct. 31, 2024, that the state had purchased land north of Charleston in Franklin County to build the 3,000-bed prison. The cost for the 815 acres was $2.9 million. One of the reasons for the western Arkansas site selection was to avoid placing the prison in an area where additional prisons already exist, which could affect potential workforce options, according to state officials.

A completed prison would employ nearly 800 at an average salary of more than $46,600, based on estimates. Sanders at the time said the region is large enough to provide a workforce pool from which to hire enough people to staff the prison.

However, the announcement resulted in several grassroots groups opposing the prison plan. More than 1,800 area residents attended a town hall on Nov. 7, 2024, at the Charleston High School gym to push back against building the prison in Franklin County.

The Arkansas Senate in the 2025 regular session blocked appropriation for $750 million to build the prison, and Sanders did not include new funding for the prison in her FY2026-27 budget request. In a recent interview with Talk Business & Politics, Sanders said she still thinks the Franklin County land is a good prison site.

“I’m certainly open to looking at it as I’ve told every member of the legislature as well as anybody else who has an interest in this,” Sanders said. “If you have an idea or a solution, I’m all ears. I still firmly believe that we have to expand capacity and I’ve yet to see a better alternative than the Franklin County location. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be other things that we’re doing.”

Watson, a Franklin County resident who was a leader in efforts to oppose the prison, said no one is confident the issue is dead. He also pushed back against Sanders’ belief that the Franklin County land remains a good location for a prison.

“I think if the governor is saying she hasn’t heard any better ideas, then that just means she is not listening,” he said, adding that “there are many good options” to address Arkansas’ incarceration issues other than building large prisons on property that is not conducive to such a large development.

“If you’re going to build a new prison, this is the worst place to do it.” Watson said.

When asked what it would take to be 100% confident the prison project is dead, Watson had an immediate answer.

“When the ink is dry on a deed” placing ownership of the 815 acres with someone other than the state, he said.