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Senate Judiciary Committee hears DOC briefing on jail backup, recidivism and reentry plans
Summary
Arkansas Department of Corrections officials told the Senate Judiciary Committee that county jail backup has fallen from a December peak and that recidivism remains high (DOC: 46.1% over 36 months); officials outlined administrative transfers under Act 55, use of overflow housing and expanded reentry programming while members pressed for data and capacity solutions.
Department of Corrections officials told the Senate Judiciary Committee on an informational briefing that Arkansas is seeing a rebound in correctional populations since the COVID drop but remains challenged by county jail backups and high recidivism.
Secretary Solomon Grove said the state’s county jail backup peaked in December and briefly crossed 2,500 inmates in January before falling to about 1,500 as of the prior week. "We have been able to administratively transfer just over 200 offenders from the Division of Correction to the Division of Community Correction," Grove said, citing a rule change implemented under Act 55 of the 2021 regular session that allows transfers when a sentencing court did not affirmatively object.
Grove also outlined public‑health and operational changes the department has used to accelerate intakes, including adoption of updated CDC congregate‑setting guidance issued in late 2021 and use of overflow intake…
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