Arkansas officials ‘kept in the dark’ over state’s land purchase for new prison

by Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate
November 1, 2024

An Arkansas legislator and Franklin County officials said Friday they were shocked this week to learn about the state’s plan to build a prison near Charleston and are worried about the project luring away employees from local businesses already struggling to find workers.

Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, told KDYN Radio local lawmakers “were kept in the dark right up ‘til the last minute” about the state’s purchasing 815 acres in the Vesta community for $2.95 million with the intent of building a roughly 3,000-bed prison to help alleviate overcrowding in county jails.

The governor’s office formally announced the purchase of the former Toby Breeden Ranch on Thursday, touting the prison as an investment in public safety and economic development. The prison is expected to create several hundred construction jobs and employ 800 once it’s operational, according to a press release.

The prior owners of the property were Aaron Geissinger and Haley Geissinger, the Office of Transformation and Shared Services confirmed Friday.

Stubblefield, co-chair of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Charitable, Penal and Correctional Institutions subcommittee, said he was first alerted to the purchase around 1 p.m. Tuesday.

“The whole thing was just not done right…I don’t work for the governor. I work for the people that elected me, and I was kept in the dark about this whole thing,” he said.

Arkansas purchases Franklin County land for new prison site

With advance notice, the Republican senator said there could have been town hall meetings where local residents could have shared their thoughts.

“At least give them a voice in what’s going to happen in their community, which is a huge, huge deal,” Stubblefield said. “This is not like building a Casey’s. This is a big deal, and they were deprived of that right and I don’t blame them for being upset. I really don’t.”

More than 1,600 people had signed an online petition opposing the prison location by Friday afternoon. Charleston has a population of nearly 2,600, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“If the people don’t want this, then they’re the ones that we represent. I’m going to go along with them,” Stubblefield said.

Local residents will have the opportunity to learn more and ask questions of Board of Corrections Chairman Benny Magness during a meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Charleston Middle School, the legislator said.

Stubblefield is taking additional actions in response to the project, and said he placed a hold Thursday on the Department of Corrections for the upcoming legislative session. He said he also intends to speak with U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman about protected land near the prison site.

Additionally, the Republican senator said he’s asked his staff to submit document requests under the state’s Freedom of Information Act to the Department of Corrections and the Board of Corrections to better understand who knew what when.

“You don’t keep something like this secret, so somebody had to know something,” Stubblefield said.

Franklin County Judge Rickey Bowman said he was “floored” and “very disappointed” to not learn about Franklin County being chosen as the prison location until Tuesday afternoon.

“It was kept very low-key, very tight and that’s concerning, that’s concerning about our state government and the people that we represent,” Bowman said.

The county judge said former Corrections Secretary Joe Profiri will attend Thursday’s meeting. Sanders made him a senior adviser after the board of corrections fired him as secretary in January.

Franklin County Sheriff Johnny Crocker said he rejected the notion of building a prison in the county when someone asked about it shortly after he took office in 2023.

“I love Franklin County the way it is,” he said. “It’s a beautiful place. People come to retire, hang out. This is my home, and I’ll fight for it until I’m in the ground.”

That was the last Crocker heard of the idea until Bowman called him this week. Crocker said he also received calls from the governor’s staff and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the latter of which was a “rough conversation,” this week before Thursday’s formal announcement.

Expansion projects paused as Arkansas decides how to increase prison capacity

“I support the governor. I’m a pretty hardline conservative,” he said. “I understand parts of what she’s doing because you got to pick a place, but this is my home and my backyard. I don’t want it here. Pick somewhere else.”

Crocker said he was asked ahead of Thursday’s announcement to make a statement with the governor, but declined, opting to make his comments on the matter during his regular Friday morning segment on KDYN Radio.

The sheriff said he’s not concerned about community safety because the chance of prisoners escaping is slim. Crocker also noted that when prisoners are released, they have to have a plan, often move back to where they’re from and must check in with parole officers.

However, Crocker said he is concerned about small businesses and local law enforcement agencies having to compete with hundreds of likely higher paying jobs at the prison. The facility will offer an average salary of around $47,000, according to the governor’s office. Crocker said his jailers make roughly $36,000 while his deputies make “just shy” of $40,000.

In addition to the pay, Crocker noted some local law enforcement agencies will need to hire more staff to keep up with the influx of people that move to the area to work at the prison and for overnight patrols.

“We need beds, we got to have beds,” he said. “No one wants a prison in their community. I do not want a prison in my community. I’m 100% against it, but I do understand you got to eventually pick a place.”

What Crocker said he doesn’t understand is building the state’s largest prison on just a few hundred acres of land. The Cummins Unit, the state’s largest prison, has a capacity for 1,900 prisoners, according to the corrections department. But its average population in July was just over 2,000 inmates. It’s located in Lincoln County on more than 16,000 acres that includes a roughly 11,000-acre farm.

In addition to advocating for constituents, Stubblefield and Justice of the Peace Cody Sosebee both said they have a vested interest with family land located near the prison site. Sosebee became emotional discussing his 82-year-old father lamenting how the open land bordering his property will cease to exist once the prison is built.

“He’s worked and scratched…[there are] people that have given everything to live there because they want that solitude and safety; it’s being taken away without a voice,” Sosebee said.

Though the governor’s office has celebrated the prison project as a way to create jobs, Stubblefield said it’s not about the money for local residents.

“I understand small communities. Some of them are dying on the vine, and unless they evolve with something like this, they will die. But you know these people are not worried about the money,” he said. “They just want to live their life in a quiet, peaceful little [place] because those are disappearing all over the country, and it’s just the way that this was handled that really is troubling.”

The state Board of Corrections must approve the prison site before construction begins. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Tucker Unit northeast of Pine Bluff. The agenda includes a discussion about new bed space and an update on the county jail backup, but nothing specific regarding the location of a new prison.

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