Board approves Arkansas site for planned 3,000-inmate prison despite objections

Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Board of Corrections has approved an 815-acre site where it plans to build a new prison, despite objections from some residents. The board on Friday voted to accept the land the state had purchased for nearly $3 million to build a planned 3,000-inmate prison. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and corrections officials say the prison space is needed to ease a backlog of state inmates in county jails. The purchase has prompted complaints from residents and local officials who say they were blindsided by the announcement last week and that public hearings were needed on it.