ByMichael Dougherty For County Lines
believe it is time that members of the Arkansas General Assembly try to find a solution to the funding ratio that has the state of Arkansas paying a county $28 a day to house a state inmate in its county jail.
M 28 Te cost of housing that inmate, according to a state Legisla-
tive Audit, is $56.97 per day. Tat disparity is one of the biggest problems facing county governments in Arkansas, in particular, the sheriffs who manage the jails in their respective counties. Te discrepancy arises, in large part, by the high number of state prisoners who have had their parole revoked and are being held at the county level.
Te number of state inmates in county jails had eased in recent years due to Act 570. Te average number of state prisoners wait-
ost county sheriffs in Arkansas understand that funding is scarce and that an answer to state pris- on overcrowding is not as simple as “Googling” it online.
But the majority of Arkansas lawmen are willing to say they
ing in county jails went from a range of 1,800 to 2,000 to down between 300-500 after Act 570. Mark Whitmore, AAC chief legal counsel, said the overcrowd-
ing problem began escalating when Darrell Dennis, who had been paroled from the Arkansas Department of Correction, was charged with killing a teenager last year in Central Arkansas. Dennis, 47, is on trial for capital murder, kidnapping and rob-
bery in the May 10, 2013, slaying of a Fayetteville 18-year-old. Dennis is accused of demanding a ride at gunpoint from Forrest Abrams at a Little Rock gas station, just hours after Dennis was released from a Pulaski County jail. After Dennis was charged in the death of Abrams, changes in
the parole standards began the march of revocation candidates into county jails around the state. In the neighborhood of 2,900 inmates who’s parole has been
revocated are housed in county jails and about 300 are awaiting parole hearings. At the time of Dennis’ arrest, 56,051 were on probation and
parole, according to Sheila Sharp, director of the Department of Arkansas Community Correction. In contrast, the number on Feb. 24, was 52,878.
COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2014
slammed with demands County jails
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