Members of the Arkansas Board of Corrections attend a meeting at the North Little Rock headquarters on Feb. 12, 2025. Left to right: Lona McCastlain, William “Dubs” Byers, Chairman Benny Magness, Lee Watson, Brandon Tollett, Grant Hodges. Board member Alonza Jiles attended remotely. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate)
The Arkansas Board of Corrections expects to begin moving inmates into the Phillips County Jail this week after approving a monthly food service contract during a special online meeting Monday.
The month-to-month agreement with Progressive Health of Helena will cost $5.75 per meal per inmate for housing up to 38 inmates, Arkansas Department of Corrections Chief Financial Officer Chad Brown told the board. The estimated monthly cost of providing breakfast and dinner is $13,292, he said. The Department of Corrections will provide a sack lunch.
The newly approved monthly contract will “hold us over” until a longer-term contract can be negotiated with another vendor, Brown said.
The board last September approved a 40-year lease to operate the Phillips County Jail at a cost of $1 per year as part of its work to expand prison capacity and reduce crowding in county jails, which house roughly 10% of state inmates, according to a department spokesperson.
Earlier this month, board members voiced concerns about the delay in opening the Phillips County facility due to the inability to finalize an appropriate food source for inmates.
“I just want to commend everyone that made this happen as fast as they did,” board member Lona McCastlain said Monday. “So we’re going to have people in beds this week it looks like, so that’s wonderful.”
Chairman Benny Magness said he wants to share information about potential employees for a planned prison in Franklin County, likely at the board’s next meeting. The construction of a 3,000-bed prison near the rural town of Charleston has been controversial since the announcement of the project blindsided local officials and community members last year.
Magness said he estimates there are 176,000 potential employees living within a 30-mile radius of the site. The Calico Rock state prison, in north central Arkansas, has about 47,000 employees living within a 30-mile radius of that facility, he said. Magness has previously referenced Calico Rock as a site similar to the one in Franklin County.
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