Jail space vital, 2 hopefuls say

But they differ on approach

The two major party candidates for governor greet each other Thursday after speaking at the Arkansas Municipal League’s convention in Little Rock. Republican nominee Asa Hutchinson (left) and Democratic nominee Mike Ross were joined by Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola (center).
The two major party candidates for governor greet each other Thursday after speaking at the Arkansas Municipal League’s convention in Little Rock. Republican nominee Asa Hutchinson (left) and Democratic nominee Mike Ross were joined by Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola (center).

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross said Thursday that the state is going to have to build a new, 1,000-bed prison. But approval of the roughly $85 million project should be contingent on "meaningful prison reforms," he added.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson said the state probably is going to have to fund more prison beds in the 2015 legislative session, but he suggested that Ross doesn't want to lock up nonviolent offenders in prison, even though some of them should be incarcerated in prison.

Ross said that "it's plum silly" to suggest that he favors placing only violent offenders in prison, because he understands that some nonviolent offenders need to be in prison.

Ross and Hutchinson on Thursday answered questions from city officials during the Arkansas Municipal League's annual convention at the Little Rock Marriott. Mark Stodola, the league's vice president and Little Rock's mayor, asked the candidates how they would help counties with the large backlog of state prisoners.

The state Department of Correction has 2,476 state inmates in county jails, in addition to the 14,472 inmates in state prisons, department spokesman Shea Wilson said.

Ross of Little Rock, a former 4th District congressman and state senator, said state officials are going to have to build a 1,000-bed prison, because a few thousand state inmates are now backed up in county jails. Taxpayers can't afford to finance a new prison every few years, Ross said, so for "any new prison we build, there needs to be some prison reforms tied to that."

He said the new prison would cost roughly $35 million to operate each year.

Ross noted that 52 percent of the state's inmates have been convicted of nonviolent crimes, including 42 percent of drug-related crimes.

Ross, who also is a former member of the Nevada County Quorum Court, said the state needs to provide alternative sentencing and drug treatment programs for certain first-time offenders. It should also expand career and technical education in prison so inmates have job skills when they leave and provide tax credits to businesses that hire ex-offenders for three years. That's cheaper, he said, than locking them up at a cost of $25,000 per year.

He said he'll release a more detailed plan soon.

Hutchinson, a former 3rd District congressman and U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, said burglary is a serious issue in Arkansas, and many burglars need to be imprisoned for property crimes.

He said he wants judges to be able to sentence drug offenders to drug treatment courts, but lawbreakers should be sent to prison if they fail to abide by the conditions of the courts.

Not imprisoning all nonviolent offenders is not the answer, because the issue is far more complicated than that, said Hutchinson.

The state "must recognize we have a crime problem," he said.

"We need to address it," Hutchinson said. "The first starting point is adequate jail space."

Hutchinson, a former director of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Department undersecretary, said he's not sure the Legislature will address the issue if it holds a special session this summer.

Some lawmakers have called for a special session to increase funding for the public school employees' health insurance plan and its members. But others hope to pass legislation to bar the lottery from offering electronic monitor games such as keno or quick-draw.

Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe is proposing reallocating $6.3 million a year from the state's Central Services Fund to pay to open about 600 state prison and Pulaski County work center beds, Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said. That would require legislative approval during the special session, he said. The governor determines whether a special session will be held and what bills will be considered.

Hutchinson said he would probably call for the creation of more prison space for prisoners in the 2015 session. The state needs sufficient prison space to help relieve county jails from overcrowding with state prisoners, he said.

If elected, he said, he also would make sure that the state fulfills its commitments to compensate counties that are holding state inmates.

Hutchinson has proposed increasing funding for more parole officers and drug treatment courts by $1 million and providing $300,000 for programs to help inmates reintegrate into society.

On other issues, Hutchinson said unfunded mandates are a problem for local governments, and he would oppose legislation that affects the budgets of local governments. He supports legislation requiring a fiscal impact study on bills that affect local governments' budgets.

Ross said he doesn't plan to sign bills that adversely affect local governments' budgets either.

He said local land use and zoning decisions should be made by local government officials and "not forced down" from the federal or state government.

Hutchinson said local governments should have the right to protect their jurisdictions against unwanted businesses or those they don't want in a certain part of town. He said he doesn't want to unduly restrict that or undermine local control.

Hutchinson said the state government receives 3 percent of local governments' sales tax receipts each year, or about $32 million a year. He wants to study the current system and determine if that percentage is appropriate or should be reduced.

Ross said the state collects 350 different sales taxes for cities and counties and keeps 3 percent of these collections, and the state should reduce that percentage if it's able to do so.

The state's 3 percent charge on local sales tax receipts pays for the cost of the state collecting the local sales tax receipts as well as general state government expenses, including elected officials' salaries and executive, judicial and legislative branch operations, said Brandon Sharp, the state's budget administrator.

Metro on 06/20/2014

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