Thursday night, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a letter she sent to the Arkansas Board of Corrections Chairman Benny Magness calling for his resignation, effective immediately.Earlier Thursday, Magness asked Gov. Sanders to activate 138 National Guard members to help staff short-handed prisons. He requested 40 Guardsmen for the Maximum Security and Tucker Units near Pine Bluff to free up prison guards to open 124 additional beds at the Tucker Re-Entry Center. The remaining 98 Guard members requested would serve at other prisons across the state which have correctional officer vacancy rates higher than 40%.Under Magness’ proposal, the Guard members would not work directly with inmates. In his letter Wednesday, Magness stated “These personnel will be utilized in the perimeter security, towers and outside rovers, of both units as well as the secured entrances.”
The Guardsmen would fill positions which are staffed 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.
In response to Magness’ letter, Gov. Sanders stated, “Your letter is yet another example of the desire to play political games, and this time you are involving our brave National guardsmen and women as pawns.”
Gov. Sanders added, “Secretary Joe Profiri had a plan to safely reopen beds with no additional personnel needed. If the Board wants to reactivate beds, then they should reinstate the Secretary and implement his plan without delay. I will not inject our guardsmen and women into a purely political situation caused by the very person requesting them.”
The decision to call on the Arkansas National Guard is now with the governor. The Guard is typically only activated in emergencies, such as in response to national disasters. Members of the Guard were recruited to assist state agencies with logistics and screening during the coronavirus pandemic, and Gov. Sanders has sent Guardsmen to the U.S. border with Mexico to assist with security there.
The corrections board in recent weeks signed off on adding 254 beds in existing spaces across three prisons, but has been reluctant to grant Profiri’s request to add 244 beds in a vacant building at the McPherson Unit, a women’s prison near Newport, and 124 beds at the Re-Entry Center in the Maximum Security Unit.
Sanders and Profiri defied the board’s plan to move forward with the bed additions, prompting a lawsuit from the board over the question of who has authority over Arkansas prisons.
A judge last week granted the board’s request for a temporary restraining order, blocking Profiri and the governor from adding additional beds. A hearing on whether to make that order a preliminary injunction is set for Dec. 28.
The board has suspended Profiri for the duration of the litigation.
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