Legislation that would authorize the overhaul of a defunct Pine Bluff correctional facility into a re-entry center for veterans cleared the Senate on Wednesday.
The Senate voted 35-0 to approve House Bill 1249 by Rep. Dwight Tosh, R-Jonesboro, sending it to the governor.
The bill would allow the Department of Community Correction to donate the former site of the Southeast Arkansas Community Correction Center to an Arkansas nonprofit that serves military veterans. Veterans Villages of America has been in talks with the department to transform the facility -- which needs more than $10 million in repairs -- into a transitional facility for military veterans leaving prison or the service, or recovering from substance abuse or homelessness.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]
The 350-bed correctional facility moved its population to West Memphis in 2016 because of the significant cost of the needed repairs.
Retired Col. Mike Ross, a Veterans Villages board member, has said the group plans to offer vocational training, mental-health treatment and temporary housing at the 52-acre facility.
-- Michael R. Wickline