An Arkansas Department of Correction inmate died Monday at the Ouachita River Correctional Unit in Malvern, a prison spokesman said Tuesday.
Inmate Redus Sims, 71, died of "natural causes" at 6:40 a.m. Monday, prison spokesman Cathy Frye said in an email.
Sims was serving a three-year sentence out of Jefferson County for sexual assault.
Frye said another inmate died Sunday at a hospital due to "natural causes," but the prison could not release the inmate's name because next of kin had not been notified.
The Arkansas State Police were notified of both deaths but are not investigating, Frye said.
In January, prison officials stopped releasing a specific cause of death for inmates. Instead, each death is classified as "natural causes," unless there are special circumstances.
There have been 17 Arkansas prison deaths since Jan. 1; there were 56 deaths in 2014.
State Desk on 03/05/2015