Arkansas Lawmaker Opposes Franklin County Prison Construction, Advocates for Crime Prevention
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Republican State Senator Bryan King is taking a stand against Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ proposal to construct a 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County. In a bold move, King filed six bills aimed at halting the prison’s development, emphasizing a shift from incarceration to crime prevention.
On Thursday, King announced his legislative strategy, targeting eight counties across Arkansas. A key proposal seeks to redirect $600 million from surplus and pre-allocated funds towards addressing county jail backlogs and enhancing crime reduction initiatives.
“Our focus should be on addressing crime from the ground up,” King said, expressing concern over the mounting pressures faced by county deputies and parole officers. He posited that constructing additional prisons would not resolve underlying issues but merely add to an already substantial tax burden on citizens.
As tensions rise, Governor Sanders has dismissed King’s proposals, asserting they lack viability. “Very few county officials support this as a workable solution; the majority have pushed back against it,” Sanders stated, defending her administration’s efforts to alleviate prison overcrowding by opening nearly 1,500 beds in existing facilities.
Despite this, King remains unwavering, highlighting that the goal of public safety should be to create safer communities, not merely increase incarceration rates. He presented a Freedom of Information Act request revealing that 67% of inmates come from just eight counties, arguing that new facilities should be strategically placed where the issues are most pronounced.
With both sides entrenched in their positions, the debate over prison construction and crime prevention strategies continues to unfold, leaving the future of Arkansas’s correctional approach uncertain.
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