Arkansas Board of Corrections member tells legislators a 3,000-bed prison is not needed

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – An Arkansas Board of Corrections member has sent an email detailing his opposition to the proposed 3,000-bed prison for the state.

Member Lee Watson sent an email to legislators and other members of the BOC, emphasizing that he was speaking only on his own behalf.

Watson agrees that the state needs a new prison in the email, but continues that the board has never asked for or heard that a 3,000-bed prison is needed.

“The sad fact is that the 3,000 number was pulled out of the Arizona hot air by our former Secretary of Corrections,” the email states, in a reference to former Secretary of Corrections Joe Profiri.

Sanders had appointed Profiri of Arizona as corrections secretary shortly after taking office in 2023. The board, however, removed Profiri from the role in January 2024 after an ongoing back-and-forth with the governor’s office.

Arkansas has a 500 million dollar problem and a 1 billion-dollar 3,000 bed prison is not the solution.

Email from Board of Corrections member Lee Watson, July 21, 2025

Initial work is currently underway for a 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County, as proposed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, despite opposition from some legislators and county residents.

Watson continues that the current backlog in county detention centers is 1,600 and has remained steady at that number “in recent years.”

“If Arkansas had an additional 3,000 bed facility today, 1,400 beds would be empty,” the email states in bold letters.

Watson continues to make the point that the legislature had approved funding to expand the North Central Unit in Calico Rock by 500 beds in 2023, and that an additional $50 million was needed for the project due to increased construction costs. The former Correction Secretary, however, canceled that project in early 2023, Watson states.

The email reads that the state needs a 1,000-bed prison in western or northwest Arkansas and several 100 to 200-bed community corrections facilities for non-violent offenders in Fort Smith and northwest Arkansas. Ultimately, Watson calls for adding 500 beds at the North Central Unit, 500 beds across community corrections and a 1,000-bed prison.

“Arkansas has a 500 million dollar problem and a 1 billion-dollar 3,000 bed prison is not the solution,” the email states.

Watson concludes by calling for a “prudent path forward.”

“Arkansas’ prison bed shortage is far larger than a simple tally of inmates currently in county jails and includes outstanding warrants that cannot be served for lack of prison space, the impact of Governor Sanders ending the failed policy of catch and early release, and the projected growth in Arkansas’ population over the coming decades,” the Gov. Sanders Director of Communications Sam Dubke said. “Law enforcement officials across Arkansas agree we need to build a new prison with adequate capacity to improve public safety and get violent, repeat offenders off our streets.”