How the new state prison will impact Northeast Arkansas

PARAGOULD, Ark. (KAIT) – With the new Franklin County Jailthere will be more space for inmates in county jails in Arkansas.

“For many of my colleagues, it will help them tremendously,” Greene County Judge Rusty McMillon said.

Overcrowding has been a major problem for Arkansas prisons.

McMillon said with the new state prison there will be more space locally.

“That would take all the inmates that are state bonded, but we are still holding them, that would give them the sleeping space that the state needs, to free up those spaces for us in the county facilities,” McMillon said.

McMillon said there isn’t enough space in several counties to hold misdemeanor offenders, causing departments to use different measures instead of being able to house them.

“That means it is often a crime, for which there is no place,” McMillon said. “So it could be a probationary period or an ankle monitor, or you just don’t have a place to put them.”

While it will help solve the overcrowding problem, Greene County Sheriff Brad Synder said it won’t solve the problem.

“The unfortunate thing is they’re going to be full once they’re built,” Snyder said. “The backlog will still be there for the county jails, but it may not be as bad of a backlog as it once was.”

Snyder added that overcrowding is not a major problem in Greene County.

There has been pushback from Franklin County residents about the new jail, but judges and sheriffs agree it is desperately needed.

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