Arkansas Department of Corrections

Arkansas became a state in 1836. The first Governor of Arkansas, James S. Conway, pushed the Arkansas General Assembly to allocate funds for a state penitentiary in their first meeting, but he met strong resistance with many of his proposals, and a penitentiary was not funded. The Second General Assembly in 1838 allocated $20,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|20000|1838|r=-3}}}} today) to a state penitentiary in Little Rock.{{harvp|"Governors"|1995|p= 7}}. The state purchased a {{convert|92.41|acre|ha|adj=on}} tract outside of Little Rock in 1839, and the Third General Assembly allocated another $40,500 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|40500|1840|r=-3}}}} today) in 1840 to finish construction of the Arkansas State Penitentiary. It held 300 prisoners.{{cite journal |last1= Barnard |first1= Lewis |title= Old Arkansas State Penitentiary |publisher= Arkansas Historical Association |journal=Arkansas Historical Quarterly |location=Fayetteville, Arkansas |volume= 13 |issue= 1 |date= Autumn 1954 |pages= 321–323 |issn=0004-1823 |doi= 10.2307/40037984 |jstor= 40037984 |ref={{harvid|"Barnard"|1954}} }} It was destroyed in 1846 in a prisoner revolt.{{cite web | url=https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/unfolding-misconceptions-arkansas-state-penitentiary-1836-1986 | title=Unfolding Misconceptions: The Arkansas State Penitentiary, 1836-1986 | Office of Justice Programs }}{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B7PXtmFhs1EC&dq=%22arkansas+penitentiary%22+%C2%A0prisoner+revolt&pg=PA72 | title=The High Lights of Arkansas History | last1=Herndon | first1=Dallas Tabor | date=1922 }}

From 1849 to 1893 the State of Arkansas leased its convicted felons to private individuals. After abuses became publicized, the state assumed direct control of felons. The state continued to have prison labor be hired to contractors, manufacturers, and planters until 1913.Federal Writers' Project. Arkansas: A Guide to the State. US History Publishers, 1958. [https://books.google.com/books?id=CTWMqJNNy5AC&dq=Varner+Arkansas+School&pg=PA277 277]. Retrieved from Google Books on March 5, 2011. {{ISBN|1-60354-004-0}}, {{ISBN|978-1-60354-004-9}}

In 1899, the penitentiary site was selected for the new Arkansas State Capitol, which supplanted the Old State House.{{harvp|"Governors"|1995|p= 113}}. In the interim, Arkansas leased many convicts to companies, including the Arkansas Brick Manufacturing Company, for as long as ten years in an effort to house them while a new prison was built.{{harvp|"Governors"|1995|p= 120}}. Though officials agreed on the need to purchase a prison farm, widespread disagreement about the new prison's location stalled progress further. Governor Jeff Davis vetoed a plan to purchase the Sunnyside Plantation in February 1901. Further trying to make his case for more sweeping penal reform, Governor Davis toured the convict-leasing camp in England, Arkansas and revealed shocking allegations of inhumane treatment. The political battle consumed state politics for the next year. The General Assembly decided to purchase the Cummins Farm over the objection of Governor Davis, who preferred a location in Altheimer.{{harvp|"Governors"|1995|pp= 124-125}}. However, ending the convict-lease system would remain an issue in state politics for the next 10 years.

A new prison was simultaneously constructed on a new {{convert|15|acre|ha|adj=on}} site southwest of Little Rock. Nicknamed "The Walls", the new prison opened in 1910. In 1913 act 55, signed into law, lead to the establishment of a permanent execution chamber in the state prison system. In 1916 the state purchased the land which became the Tucker Unit. In 1933 Junius Marion Futrell, then the governor, closed the penitentiary in Little Rock and transferred the prisoners to Cummins and Tucker, and the execution chamber was moved to Tucker."[http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/history_gallery.html Prison History and Gallery] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310123329/http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/history_gallery.html |date=2011-03-10 }}." Arkansas Department of Correction. Retrieved on March 5, 2011.

In 1943 the state established the State Penitentiary Board through Act 1. In 1951 the state established the State Reformatory for Women through Act 351. The state moved the functions of the Arkansas State Training School for Girls to the state prison system.

{{quote box|width=30%|Discipline was routinely enforced by flogging, beating with clubs, inserting of needles under fingernails, crushing of testicles with pliers, and the last word in torture devices: the "Tucker telephone," an instrument used to send an electric current through genitals[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311192840/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,948854,00.html "U.S. Prisons: Myth vs. Mayhem"]. TIME, May 5, 1980 essay by Frank Trippett on prison reform, quoting Murton, accessed September 13, 2006. {{right|-- Tom Murton}}}}

By the 1960s, Arkansas was infamous for operating one of the most corrupt and dangerous prison systems in the nation.{{cite book |editor1-last=Donovan |editor1-first=Timothy Paul |editor2-first=Willard B |editor2-last=Gatewood |editor3-first=Jeannie M. |editor3-last=Whayne |title= The Governors of Arkansas: Essays in Political Biography |publisher= University of Arkansas Press |location=Fayetteville |year= 1995 |orig-year=1981 |edition=2 |isbn=1-55728-331-1 |lccn=94-45806 |ref={{harvid|"Governors"|1995}} }} Both Cummins and Tucker relied on the trusty system, which created a hierarchy of prisoners, with some designated as 'trusties' who the guards trusted with many of the day-to-day duties.{{cite book |last1= Woodward |first1= Colin |title= "There's a lot of things that need changin'": Johnny Cash, Winthrop Rockefeller, and Prison Reform in Arkansas |publisher= Arkansas Historical Association |work=Arkansas Historical Quarterly |location=Fayetteville, Arkansas |volume= 79 |number= 1 |date= Spring 2020 |issn=0004-1823 |page=46 |ref={{harvid|"Cash"|2020}} }} The Tucker Telephone was a torture device designed using parts from an old-fashioned crank telephone used to apply an electric shock to an uncooperative prisoner's genitals at Tucker.{{harvp|"Cash"|2020|pp= 46-47}}. Atrocious conditions in the prison system had long been known about in Arkansas, but rose in prominence during the 1960s.

In 1965, Federal Judge J. Smith Henley ruled in favor of Cummins inmates in Talley v. Stephens,The superintendent at Cummins was Dan D. Stephens. who sued claiming they were unconstitutionally subjected to cruel and unusual punishments and denied access to the courts and medical care. Henley ordered the prison stop forcing prisoners to work beyond their physical ability, cease arbitrary use of corporal punishment by "blows with a leather strap", and to allow access to medical care and legal resources without fear or reprisals. The case initiated a long legal saga that would eventually lead to major reforms in Arkansas prisons.

Governor Orval Faubus ordered a study of conditions at Tucker, but suppressed the report when it found torture, violence, rape, corruption and graft widespread by both trusties and prison officials.{{harvp|"Cash"|2020|p= 47}}. The report also found "To make profits, the prisoners were driven remorselessly from dawn to dusk in the fields, especially at harvest time". Both farms were operated to generate revenues to the state. A 1968 Time article entitled "Hell in Arkansas" found the two farms "averaged" profits of "about $1,400,000 over the years..." (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|1.4|1968|r=1}}}} million today) using prisoners as forced labor.{{cite book |title=Pictures from a Drawer: Prison and the Art of Portraiture |first=Bruce |last=Jackson |publisher=Trinity University Press}}{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,844402,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311143246/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,844402,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 11, 2007 |title=Hell In Arkansas |newspaper=TIME |date=February 9, 1968 |access-date=September 13, 2006}}{{cite news |url=https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/showcase-a-wide-view-of-a-hellish-world/ |title=Showcase: A Wide View of a Hellish World |first=James |last=Estrin |date=May 27, 2009 |access-date=October 15, 2018 |newspaper=The New York Times}}

Winthrop Rockefeller, running on a good government platform, released the previously suppressed report publicly upon election to the Governor's office in 1967. Rockefeller succeeded in reorganizing the penitentiary system into the Arkansas Department of Correction through Act 50 in the 66th Arkansas General Assembly. The ADC assumed control over the Tucker State Prison Farm for younger white prisoners, and the 1,300-inmate Cummins Farm{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/19/obituaries/thomas-murton-62-a-penologist-who-advocated-reforms-is-dead.html |title=Thomas Murton, 62, a Penologist Who Advocated Reforms, Is Dead |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=October 16, 2018 |first=Glenn |last=Fowler |date=October 19, 1990}} for "white and black adult inmates". Rockefeller hired the first professional penologist, Tom Murton, as prison superintendent in 1967. On January 29, 1968, Murton invited the media to witness the unearthing of three decayed skeletal remains in a remote part of the 16,000-acre grounds of the Cummins prison farm. They believed the skeletons were those of prisoners murdered at Cummins,{{cite news |url=https://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/the-arkansas-prison-scandal/Content?oid=15957051 |title=The Arkansas prison scandal |quote="In the 1960s, Tom Murton attempted to reform Cummins prison farm, but lost his job after unearthing three skeletons on the grounds." |first=Colin Edward |last=Woodward |date=March 22, 2018 |access-date=October 16, 2018 |newspaper=Arkansas Times |location=Little Rock, Arkansas}} although this was never proven.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0S9IQTXjrpQC&q=holt+v+sarver&pg=PA59 |title=Policy Making and the Modern State: How the Courts Reformed America |first1=Malcolm M. |last1=Feeley |first2=Edward L. |last2=Rubin |isbn=0521777348 |orig-year=June 13, 1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=March 28, 2000 |pages=490|access-date=October 17, 2018 }}{{cite web|title=Hutto v. Finney, 437 U.S. 678 (1978)|url=http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/437/437.US.678.76-1660.html|access-date=December 20, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506050440/http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/437/437.US.678.76-1660.html|archive-date=May 6, 2012|url-status=dead}} Fired after less than a year, Murton's aggressive approach to uncovering Arkansas' prison scandal with its decades-long systemic corruption, embarrassed Rockefeller and "infuriated conservative politicians". Murton had attracted nationwide media attention and contempt for Arkansas, as news of Bodiesburg, as it was called, spread. Murton's co-authored 1969 book, Accomplices to the Crime: The Arkansas Prison Scandal was the basis for the fictionalized 1980 film Brubaker starring Robert Redford.{{cite book |last1=Murton |first1=Tom|last2=Hyams|first2=Joe |title=Accomplices to the Crime: The Arkansas Prison Scandal|year=1969 |publisher=Grove Press|location=New York, U.S. |isbn=9780718101107}}

In Holt v. Sarver, Judge Henley ruled several aspects of Arkansas's prison system unconstitutional and provided guidelines to get the system into compliance. The following year, Henley found the entire prison system operated by the ADC unconstitutional, as issues restricting inmates' access to court and cruel and unusual punishment remained in violation of his previous ruling. A 1969 case challenging many aspects of the ADC prison system lasted almost a decade, resulting in the Supreme Court landmark case Hutto v. Finney 437 U.S. 678 ({{ussc|437|678|1978}}). The case also clarified prison system's unacceptable punitive measures.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} T. Don Hutto had been hired by Governor Dale Bumpers in 1971 as the head of the Arkansas Department of Correction,{{cite encyclopedia |title=Terrell Don Hutto (1935–) |url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=12346 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |access-date=October 15, 2018 |date=August 9, 2017 |first=Colin Edward |last=Woodward}} with a mandate of "humanizing" the "convict farms".{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=4159 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |title=Prison Reform |first=Laura |last=Choate |location=Conway, Arkansas |date=July 19, 2018 |access-date=October 15, 2018}}

In 1974, Hutto resigned and moved to Virginia to become deputy director of the Virginia Department of Corrections.{{ cite news |title=Ex-Officials from Virginia on CCA Staff |work= Richmond Times-Dispatch |location= Richmond, VA |date= October 20, 1985 |page=A-8 |via= NewsBank: America's News |url= https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&docref=news/0EB4F61807DF6AEF |access-date= November 21, 2020 }}

In 2014 the state made a call for cities to submit bids to host a new maximum security prison."[http://www.couriernews.com/view/full_story/25537339/article-Cities-to-answer-state-s-want-ad-for-new-prison-- Cities to answer state's want ad for new prison]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20151222125248/http://www.couriernews.com/view/full_story/25537339/article-Cities-to-answer-state-s-want-ad-for-new-prison-- Archive]). Associated Press, Courier News, July 31, 2014. Retrieved on September 22, 2015.

{{unreferenced section|date=June 2024}}

Following state government reorganization in 2019, the State of Arkansas created the cabinet level Department of Corrections (DOC) as the umbrella department for several corrections-related state agencies. DOC oversees administrative functions for these several units, including the Division of Community Corrections (DCC), Arkansas Parole Board (APB), Arkansas Sentencing Commission (ASC), Arkansas Criminal Detention Facility Review Committee, and the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision.

The primary duties of the old ADC is now under the auspices of the Division of Corrections, with DCC becoming the Division of Community Corrections, with both reporting to the Secretary of Corrections, a cabinet-level position.

{{Infobox law enforcement agency

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| governingbody = Arkansas Board of Corrections

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| headquarters = 6814 Princeton Pike
Pine Bluff, AR 71602

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The headquarters are in Pine Bluff."[http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/MapItDrawServlet?geo_id=16000US0555310&_bucket_id=50&tree_id=420&context=saff&_lang=en&_sse=on Pine Bluff city, Arkansas]{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on September 7, 2010."[http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/facilities.html#central Facilities] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201100752/http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/facilities.html |date=2009-12-01 }}." Arkansas Department of Correction. Retrieved on December 8, 2009. "Central Office Location: West of Pine Bluff on Princeton Pike Road in Jefferson Country" The ADC headquarters moved to the Pine Bluff Complex in 1979."[https://web.archive.org/web/20090806120702/http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/pdf/facts_brochure2006.pdf 2006 Facts Brochure]" (). Arkansas Department of Correction. July 1, 2005-June 30, 2006. 26 (26/38). Retrieved on August 15, 2010. Previously they were located in the State Office Building in Little Rock.Reagen, Michael V. and Donald M. Stoughton/ School Behind Bars: A Descriptive Overview of Correctional Education in the American Prison System. The Scarecrow Press, 1976. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=HFAFAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Arkansas+Department+of+Corrections%22 174]. Retrieved from Google Books on March 6, 2011. "Arkansas Department of Corrections State Office Building Little Rock, Arkansas 72201" {{ISBN|0-8108-0891-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8108-0891-1}}.

File:Varner Unit Supermax.jpg, one of the ADC parent units]]

For the diagnostic process, male inmates go to the Ouchita River Correctional Unit in Malvern,"[http://adc.arkansas.gov/news/details/adc-to-open-state-of-the-art-special-needs-facility ADC to open state-of-the-art special needs facility]." Arkansas Department of Correction. November 30, 2011. Retrieved on May 9, 2017. and women go to the McPherson Unit in Newport. Male death row inmates are housed at the Varner Super Max Unit while women with death sentences are received at McPherson. The death chamber is located at the Cummins Unit."[http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf Guide for Family and Friends] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819032000/http://www.adc.arkansas.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf |date=August 19, 2010 }}." ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130228040507/http://adc.arkansas.gov/resources/Documents/Friends_and_Family_Guide.pdf Archive]) Arkansas Department of Correction. 6 . Retrieved on March 26, 2013. Previously the Diagnostic Unit in Pine Bluff was the intake unit for male prisoners.

After the intake process, most inmates go to a "parent unit" for their initial assignment. The male parent units are Cummins, East Arkansas, Grimes, Tucker, and Varner. The McPherson Unit is the female parent unit. The initial assignments last for at least 60 days. Inmates may be moved to other units based on behavior, institutional needs, job availability, and available space.

The ADC operates the Willis H. Sargent Training Academy in England, Arkansas."[http://adc.arkansas.gov/employment/Pages/trainingFAQ.aspx Training FAQ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151207031029/http://adc.arkansas.gov/employment/Pages/trainingFAQ.aspx |date=2015-12-07 }}." Arkansas Department of Correction. Retrieved on September 22, 2015. "The Willis H. Sargent Training Academy is located at 1500 NE 1st St, England, AR 72046. "

In Arkansas's shared services model of state government, the cabinet-level agencies assist boards and commissions who have an overlapping scope. DOC supports:

;Boards

• Arkansas Board of Corrections
• Arkansas Parole Board

;Commissions

• Arkansas Sentencing Commission

;Committee

• Criminal Detention Facility Review Committee

;Councils

• Arkansas State Council for the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision

{{see also|Capital punishment in Arkansas}}

File:CumminsUnitSignArk.jpg serves as a parent unit for male prisoners and houses the State of Arkansas execution chamber]]

Male death row inmates are located at the Varner Unit's Supermax, while the executions are performed at the Cummins Unit, adjacent to Varner."[http://www.arkansas.gov/senate/newsroom/files/junethirteen.doc State Capitol Week in Review]." State of Arkansas. June 13, 2008. Retrieved on August 15, 2010. "Executions are carried out in the Cummins Unit, which is adjacent to Varner." The female death row is located at the McPherson Unit. In 1999 the female death row was newly inaugurated.Haddigan, Michael. "[https://web.archive.org/web/19990508130907/http://www.arktimes.com/990409coverstory.html They Kill Women, Don't They?]" Arkansas Times. April 9, 1999. Retrieved on August 15, 2010.

In 1974 male death row inmates, previously at the Tucker Unit, were moved to the Cummins Unit. In 1986 male death row inmates were moved to the Maximum Security Unit. On Friday August 22, 2003, all 39 Arkansas death row inmates, all of them male, were moved to the Supermax at the Varner Unit."[http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=1417128 Death Row On The Move]" ([http://web.archive.org/web/20030913131450/http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S%3D1417128 Archive]). KAIT. August 26, 2003. Retrieved on August 15, 2010.

As of June 3, 2015 the ADC has 18,681 prisoners. This is an increase from 1977, when it had 2,519 prisoners.Millar, Lindsey. "[http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2015/06/17/arkansass-prison-population-continues-to-climb Arkansas's prison population continues to climb ]." Arkansas Times. June 17, 2015. Retrieved on March 2, 2016. After a parole violator was accused of committing a 2013 murder,Millar, Lindsey. "[http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/arkansass-prison-population-and-related-expense-is-exploding/Content?oid=3973297 Arkansas's prison population, and related expense, is exploding ]." Arkansas Times. July 13, 2015. Retrieved on March 2, 2016. the Arkansas Board of Corrections changed the conditions of parole, stating that any parolee accused of committing a felony must have his/her parole revoked, even if he/she has not yet been convicted of that felony. This caused the prison population to increase.

Prisons include:{{cite web|url=http://adc.arkansas.gov/faciliities/Pages/default.aspx |title=Facilities |publisher=Arkansas Department of Correction |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708062558/http://adc.arkansas.gov/faciliities/Pages/default.aspx |archive-date=2013-07-08 }}

File:Tucker Unit - Maximum Security.jpg|Maximum Security Unit

File:Texarkana April 2016 066 (Arkansas Department of Correction TRCC Unit).jpg|TRCC Unit in Texarkana

The Division of Community Corrections (DCC) is the parole and community corrections state agency of Arkansas. ACC headquarters is located in North Little Rock.

Facilities include:"[http://www.dcc.arkansas.gov/locations_area_offices_offices.html Locations] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226104645/http://www.dcc.arkansas.gov/locations_area_offices_offices.html |date=February 26, 2011 }}." Arkansas Department of Community Corrections. Retrieved on March 5, 2011.

• Central Arkansas Community Corrections Center (Little Rock)
• Northeast Arkansas Community Corrections Center (Osceola)
• Northwest Arkansas Community Corrections Center (Fayetteville)
• East Central Arkansas Community Corrections Center (West Memphis)
• Southwest Arkansas Community Corrections Center (Texarkana)
• Omega SSC (Unincorporated Hot Spring County, near Malvern)

Arkansas Correctional School provides educational services to ADC prisoners and DCC facilities."[http://arkcs.arkansas.gov/schools/adc.html ADC Facilities]." Arkansas Correctional School. Retrieved on July 18, 2010.

{{Portal|United States|Law}}

• List of Arkansas state agencies
• List of law enforcement agencies in Arkansas
• List of U.S. state prisons
• List of United States state correction agencies
• Charles Laverne Singleton
• Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal
• Arkansas Department of Human Services (operates juvenile correctional facilities)

{{reflist|group=Notes}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://doc.arkansas.gov/community-correction/ Arkansas Division of Community Correction]
• [https://doc.arkansas.gov/correction/ Arkansas Division of Correction]
• [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=5704 "Arkansas Department of Corrections" entry] in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas

{{Clear}}

{{State prisons in Arkansas}}

{{Incarceration in the United States}}

{{Arkansas}}

{{authority control}}

Category:1968 establishments in Arkansas

Category:State law enforcement agencies of Arkansas

Category:State corrections departments of the United States

Arkansas

Category:Penal system in Arkansas