Cummins Unit

Cummins
Unincorporated community
Cummins Unit
Cummins Unit
Cummins is located in Arkansas
Cummins
Cummins
Location within the state of Arkansas
Coordinates: 34°03′05″N 91°35′02″W / 34.05139°N 91.58389°W / 34.05139; -91.58389
CountryUnited States
StateArkansas
CountyLincoln
TownshipAuburn Township and Choctaw Township
Elevation
177 ft (54 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code
71644
Area code870
GNIS feature ID64050[1]
GNIS for prison building: 82008[2]
Aerial view of the Cummins and Varner units, U.S. Geological Survey, February 28, 2001
Topographic map of the Cummins Unit, U.S. Geological Survey, July 1, 1984

The Cummins Unit (formerly known as Cummins State Farm) is an Arkansas Department of Corrections prison in unincorporated Lincoln County, Arkansas, United States,[3] in the Arkansas Delta region.[4] It is located along U.S. Route 65,[3] near Grady,[3] Gould,[5] and Varner,[6] 28 miles (45 km) south of Pine Bluff,[3] and 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Little Rock.[7][8]

This prison farm is a 16,500-acre (6,700 ha) correctional facility. The prison first opened in 1902 and has a capacity of 1,725 inmates. Cummins housed Arkansas's male death row until 1986, when it was transferred first to the Tucker Maximum Security Unit. The State of Arkansas execution chamber is located in the Cummins Unit, adjacent to the location of the male death row, the Varner Unit.[9] The female death row is located at the McPherson Unit.[10] Cummins is one of the State of Arkansas's "parent units" for male prisoners; it serves as one of several units of initial assignment for processed male prisoners.[11]

  1. ^ "Cummins, Arkansas". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ "Cummins State Prison". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. ^ a b c d "Cummins Unit". Arkansas Department of Correction. Archived from the original on July 26, 2010. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  4. ^ Melissa, Nelson (December 9, 2001). "Inmates recall prison life before reforms at harsh Cummins Unit" (PDF). Log Cabin Democrat. pp. 40–46. Retrieved November 12, 2021 – via Cummins Prison Farm: Lesson Plan Cummins Prison Farm Lincoln County, Arkansas.
  5. ^ Barnes, Royl S. (1957). Facts, Figures, and Functions of Arkansas State and Local Government. Hurley Co. p. 182. Retrieved March 6, 2011 – via Google Books. Arkansas maintains three penitentiary units: the Women's Reformatory at Cummins near Gould; one near Tucker for white men, known as the Tucker Farm; and the other near Gould, for Negro men and women, known as the Cummins Farm.
  6. ^ "Arkansas killer plans no more appeals: He is to die Wednesday in '84 death of trooper". The Dallas Morning News. Associated Press. April 18, 1995. Retrieved March 5, 2011. and he was transferred to the death watch cell at the Cummins Unit near Varner.
  7. ^ "Over 20 Convicts Flee State Farm". The Day. New London, Connecticut. January 20, 1916. Retrieved March 5, 2011 – via Google News Archive.
  8. ^ Feeley, Malcolm M.; Rubin, Edward L. (2000). Judicial Policy Making and the Modern State: How the Courts Reformed America's Prisons. Cambridge University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-521-77734-6 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ "State Capitol Week in Review". State of Arkansas. June 13, 2008. Archived from the original on June 23, 2010. Retrieved August 15, 2010. Executions are carried out in the Cummins Unit, which is adjacent to Varner.
  10. ^ Haddigan, Michael (April 9, 1999). "They Kill Women, Don't They?". Arkansas Times. Archived from the original on May 8, 1999. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
  11. ^ "Guide for Family and Friends" (PDF). Arkansas Department of Correction. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2010. Retrieved July 18, 2010.