Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, listens to testimony during a public health committee meeting on Wednesday, January 22, 2025. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)
Arkansas lawmakers filed an appropriations bill to support construction of a Franklin County prison that officials estimated Monday will cost a maximum of $850 million.
The lack of a total cost for the 3,000-bed project was a point of contention in Thursday’s Joint Budget Committee meeting where lawmakers failed to garner enough votes for the drafting of an appropriations bill for the project. Monday was the deadline for lawmakers to file appropriations bills during the legislative session.
Republicans Sen. Jonathan Dismang of Searcy and Rep. Lane Jean of Magnolia are the co-sponsors of Senate Bill 354, which would appropriate up to $750 million to the Arkansas Department of Corrections’ Division of Correction for costs associated with prison construction. An emergency clause would allow the bill to be effective July 1, 2025, the start of the fiscal year.
“At some future point there could be a request to increase the appropriation, but they’re not going to spend $750 million in year one,” Dismang told the Advocate. “So this is an appropriation that will have a life of multiple years, and it will be renewed through the reappropriation process as we go into each session. So it may be adjusted at that point, or it may not be.”
The latest debate around the project stemmed from the Joint Budget Committee’s consideration of a letter with the governor’s appropriation recommendations for 2025-2027 biennium capital projects, including construction of a new campus for the Arkansas School for the Deaf.
For the correction division, the letter recommended $330 million for the Franklin County prison, $3.8 million for a camera project at the division’s Wrightsville Unit and $300,000 for a flooring project at the McPherson Unit.
Committee members decided to vote on the corrections department appropriation separately from the other projects. Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, requested a division of the chambers, meaning the House and Senate members vote separately. House members failed to garner enough votes to advance the bill, so Senators did not vote.
State lawmakers who’ve been vocal opponents of the Franklin County prison said they were uncomfortable approving the appropriation without having an estimated total cost or completion date.
Corrections Secretary Lindsay Wallace said officials should know more about the cost once they have a design. The Board of Corrections last month approved a Request for Qualifications for an architectural firm. Based on qualifications being due March 18, Wallace said she anticipates the Board of Corrections approving a contract in May before presenting it to lawmakers for final approval in June.
Sen. Jim Payton, R-Wilburn, said regardless of whether officials have an estimate, the state should decide how much it’s willing to spend instead of letting an architect decide.
“If we’re going to design a prison, we need to set a budget,” Payton said. “You don’t let the architect set the budget, you’ve got to communicate to them that we have to be within some realm.”
Prison opponents voice concerns as Arkansas officials proceed with 3,000-bed project
When asked if the $75 million in reserves for prison construction was not enough to hire an architect and get the process started, Chad Brown, chief financial officer for the Department of Corrections, said he was nervous about moving forward with just the $75 million “because when we get into this process, we don’t want to have invoices out there that we can’t pay.”
The appropriation bill would start the process of allowing the corrections department to access the $330 million the Legislature set aside in 2023. Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson told the committee that supporting the appropriation does not mean the corrections department will automatically have access to that total amount.
As with other similar projects, Hudson said corrections department officials will have to keep returning to the Legislature to request approval for various sums throughout the construction process.
“I know there’s attention on this, there’s extra attention and there’s a lot of emotions maybe on this particular project, but the process will be the same for building this building,” he said. “So you will have a couple of bites at the apple to be able to weigh in on and to vote whether or not it moves forward eventually. I can assure you that the governor’s not going to want to move forward on this until we know what the budget is.”
The project has been a source of controversy since the governor’s announcement of the planned prison site last October shocked local officials and residents. Community members have continued pushing back on the project as state officials move forward with their plans.
State officials have said prison expansion is needed to help with overcrowding. County jails house roughly 10% of state inmates, costing the state nearly $30 million annually, according to a corrections department spokesperson.
Dismang said this is a major project and he wants his colleagues to have some time to consider the appropriations bill and ask questions of the governor’s office and the corrections department.
“We’re talking about building something that is significant,” he said. “There is debate, there should be debate, and we’ll have debate in Joint Budget on the appropriation. I’m sure we’ll have discussion on the floor.”
Advocate reporter Tess Vrbin contributed to this story.
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