Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday signed into law expansive criminal justice bills that aim to overhaul Arkansas' parole system and hold dealers of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs responsible for overdose deaths.
"We will not rest until we hold criminals in Arkansas accountable and enforce the law on the books," said the Republican governor during a news conference. "We can and we must do everything that is within our power to protect the people of our state."
Senate Bill 495, known as the Protect Arkansas Act, will require people convicted of violent felonies to serve a majority if not the entirety of their sentences in prison.
Beyond restructuring the state's parole system, the 131-page measure features provisions intended to support child victims of crimes, prepare incarcerated people to enter the workforce and suspend court fines for incarcerated defendants for 120 days after they are released from custody.
House Bill 1456, or the Fentanyl Enforcement and Accountability Act of 2023, establishes "death by delivery" offenses with strict criminal penalties.
Both bills were sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, and Sen. Ben Gilmore, R-Crossett.
During the news conference, Sanders reiterated plans to add 3,000 beds to the state's prison system to ease the backlog of inmates in jails.
While the expansion is under construction, Joe Profiri, secretary of the state Department of Corrections, said state officials have identified around 500 beds that could be added to the state's current infrastructure.
Officials are also reviewing the Tucker Unit in Jefferson County where barracks were recently shut down because of staffing shortages. As staffing levels rise, Profiri said he would activate beds at the Tucker Unit.
As of Tuesday, there were 144 women and 1,943 men in county jail backup. The state's prisons, which have a total capacity of 14,652, were holding 15,590 inmates, Department of Corrections spokesperson Dina Tyler said in a written statement.
After the news conference, Profiri told reporters he hoped to start adding interim beds to the state prison system by next month. Officials have taken the first steps toward the construction of the 3,000-bed expansion and hope to have the facility completed in no more than three years, he said.
Profiri said he expects the expansion to take the form of a new facility separate from any existing institution.
Legislation passed during the regular session authorizes up to $330 million for correctional facilities. Sanders has said the prison expansion would cost $470 million.
"The first part of the funding, that $330 million, is year one. The additional funding comes in year two," she said during the news conference. "While I wish we could build a prison in a year, it's certainly not possible."
The prison expansion and criminal justice bills are part of a broader Safer, Stronger Arkansas public safety package advanced by Sanders.
Attorney General Tim Griffin said pieces of the package are interrelated and must be addressed together.
"If you don't fix one of those parts, you don't fix anything," he said during the news conference.
PROTECT ARKANSAS
Under the Protect Arkansas Act, people convicted of 18 of the most violent felonies in state code, including rape and capital murder, will have to serve the entirety of their sentences in prison. The new law would require courts to add a period of post-release supervision in these cases if defendants are not already sentenced to the statutory maximum for their offense.
People convicted of 53 lesser violent felonies such as second-degree murder, battery in the first degree or sexual indecency with a child will have to serve 85% of their sentence before being eligible for release with supervision.
If a person convicted of a crime that requires them to serve 100% or 85% of their sentence violates their terms of release, they would have to serve the remainder of their previous sentence plus the entirety of the sentence they receive for the violation.
Those convicted of felonies not addressed in the bill could be eligible to serve 50% or 25% of their sentence in prison depending on a seriousness grid or table established by the Arkansas Sentencing Commission and approved by the Legislative Council.
To allow the state Department of Corrections and courts to prepare for the changes included in the bill, the act will require offenders convicted of the most serious violent felonies to serve 100% of their sentences starting Jan. 1. For people convicted of lesser offenses, the new post-release supervision system would go into effect beginning Jan. 1, 2025.
The bill would require the state Board of Corrections to develop rules setting guidelines for the accrual of earned release credits for work practices, job responsibilities, good behavior and involvement in rehabilitative activities.
While Democratic lawmakers backed parts of the legislation, including support for specialty courts, they expressed opposition to the sentencing overhaul. Those who spoke against the bill pointed to studies showing longer sentences do not lead to a reduction in crime and called on lawmakers to invest more in prevention, treatment and re-entry programs.
During the news conference, bill sponsor Gazaway acknowledged that tackling Arkansas' high rate of violent crime would require the state in the long term to address poverty, gaps in education and lack of opportunities.
"These are all issues that highly correlate with crime, but Arkansans deserve protections now," he said. "This bill will give Arkansans the protections they need now."
An impact statement prepared by the Arkansas Sentencing Commission estimated the bill could result in an annual increase of 1,465 state inmates by 2033 and a 10-year total cost of more than $163.8 million associated with providing additional care to inmates.
FENTANYL ENFORCEMENT
The Fentanyl Enforcement and Accountability Act of 2023 includes an "aggravated death by delivery" charge for people who knowingly deliver fentanyl to a person and the person dies as a result of taking the drug. This offense would carry a sentence of 20 to 60 years or life.
If a dealer provides fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin or cocaine to a minor and the minor dies, the dealer also would be guilty of "aggravated death by delivery." If the person is less than three years older than the minor who died, the offender would face a prison sentence of 20 to 60 years or life. Otherwise, the person would face a life sentence.
Opponents have raised concerns that "death by delivery" offenses do not take into account a person's mental state and could lead to addicts, who may provide drugs to fellow addicts, being charged with serious crimes intended for dealers.
Gazaway has said he intends the offenses in the legislation to act as deterrents and are needed to address the sharp increase in fentanyl overdose deaths in Arkansas.
When asked by lawmakers if he could point to evidence that stricter penalties would function as a deterrent, Gazaway said determining how many people don't commit a crime because of the penalties it carries is challenging.
"I do think this sends a strong message that will have a deterrent effect," he said during discussions on the bill last month.
Those who commit the offense of "predatory marketing of fentanyl to minors" by packaging the drug in a way to appeal to children could face a sentence of life in prison and a $1 million fine.
The act includes other charges including a "death by delivery in the first degree" offense which would apply if a person delivers methamphetamine, heroin or cocaine that results in an overdose death. A person would be guilty of "death by delivery in the second degree" if they delivered another controlled substance that results in the death of another person.
Protections under the Joshua Ashley-Pauley Act, which provides immunity from prosecution for those seeking medical assistance for someone suffering from a drug overdose, would still apply. Consensual ingestion of a drug would not count as a defense from prosecution under the act.
Fentanyl test strips are no longer considered drug paraphernalia under the act. This change aims to remove punishments for drug users who test for the substance which can often be mixed into other drugs, making them more lethal.
CORRECTION: The Arkansas Sentencing Commission has estimated the Protect Arkansas Act could result in an annual increase of 1,465 state inmates by 2033. An earlier version of this story provided an incorrect estimated date.