Arkansas Sheriffs' Association President John Montgomery told state lawmakers Wednesday that his county's jail is crowded with inmates awaiting state prison space and that the backlog will continue unless the state builds another penitentiary.
"In my opinion, we're going to need another prison," Montgomery told the Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force. "I know that's not popular. I know nobody wants to talk about it, no one wants to talk about the cost."
Montgomery, who is the Baxter County sheriff, said a new prison is needed "in order to make room for those people who continually violate and repeat over and over and over. Those are the people hurting our society."
In July 2014, state corrections officials recommended construction of a 1,000-bed, maximum-security lockup to help alleviate prison crowding. As of Wednesday, county jails were holding 1,958 of the state's 18,549 inmates.
But the recommendation for a new prison went nowhere. State lawmakers and Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the estimated $100 million price tag for the three-year project was not feasible.
On Wednesday, the head of the state's Board of Corrections, Benny Magness -- who supported the prison proposal last year -- agreed that there isn't enough prison space to house the state's offenders.
"We need more beds in the system, wouldn't you agree?" he asked Montgomery.
"I don't see how we can continue to protect the citizens of the state of Arkansas unless we have more beds," Montgomery replied. "There are folks who've been let out early who shouldn't have been let out. ... There's a lot of warrants that these sheriffs and police chiefs can't serve because there is no place to put" the people they arrest.
Montgomery also suggested that the state focus on detaining repeat offenders of property crimes. Lesser sanctions could be given to first- and second-time offenders, he said.
He said the state also needs to explore ways to handle offenders who have mental health problems, without sending them right to prison.
After Wednesday's meeting, Rep. Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado -- who is a co-chairman of the task force and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee -- said it's too early to talk about building a new prison.
Shepherd, heading a group that is exploring "any and all" options to help curb recidivism and reduce the state's prison population, said it's too early to say what the task force will recommend to Hutchinson and lawmakers.
As for a new prison, he said, "I don't know if we're to that point yet."
"I think there are other alternatives that we look at and continue to look at before we say all out that we need to build a brand new facility."
One option is creating regional detention facilities, something made possible after legislation was passed this year to allow counties and the state to partner in creating long-term lockups that would be locally run.
There has also been discussion among lawmakers about outsourcing more state prisoners to privately run prisons. The state is already doing some of that at a facility in Bowie County, Texas.
"I think [private prisons are] something that has to be considered. It's something that's already taken place to some degree," Shepherd said. "I think all options should be on the table."
In June, the task force was told by JFA Associates, a nonprofit research group, that Arkansas' prison growth is outpacing that of any other state in the country, and that, if unchecked, it would reach 25,671 by 2025.
In April, lawmakers approved a $33 million increase in prison spending to be used, in part, to create space for an additional 600 inmates. Included in that number were 300 to be held at the Bowie County jail in Texas.
In August, lawmakers approved another $7.4 million to add another 200 prison beds.
The state's parole department, Arkansas Community Correction, received more money in April to hire additional parole officers. It also received about $5.6 million to work with faith-based groups and other entities in developing centers for inmates who are nearing their release dates where the prisoners can get job training, therapy and other services.
Metro on 10/01/2015