 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | Reorganized 2019 |
| Preceding agencies |
|
| Jurisdiction | State of Arkansas |
| Headquarters | 1302 Pike Avenue, Ste. C North Little Rock, AR 72114 |
| Employees |  4,513 [2] |
| Annual budget |  US$618,305,804 [4] |
| Agency executives |
|
| Parent agency | Arkansas Board of Corrections |
| Child agency | |
| Key document |
|
| Website | https://doc.arkansas.gov/ |
The Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC), formerly the Arkansas Department of Correction, is the state law enforcement agency that oversees inmates and operates state prisons within the U.S. state of Arkansas. DOC consists of two divisions, the Arkansas Division of Corrections (ADC) and the Arkansas Division of Community Corrections (DCC), as well as the Arkansas Correctional School District. ADC is responsible for housing and rehabilitating people convicted of crimes by the courts of Arkansas. ADC maintains 20 prison facilities for inmates in 12 counties. DCC is responsible for adult parole and probation and offender reentry.
The Department of Corrections was officially organized as a cabinet-level state agency in 2019, but traces history back to the first state penitentiary in 1838. Early efforts focused on convict leasing, though the program largely ended toward the end of the 19th century after abuses were exposed, and prisoners were housed in "The Walls" prison in Little Rock until 1933. Arkansas next transitioned to the prison farm system, establishing the Cummins State Farm and Tucker Farm in South Arkansas. Underfunded and mostly operated by so-called 'trusties' (inmates); corrupt and dangerous conditions plagued Arkansas prisons for decades, culminating in several reform efforts throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including the creation of the first modern incarnation of the ADC in 1967.
As the War on drugs and law and order politics became[when?] prominent,[clarification needed] the Arkansas inmate population surged, and ADC built new prisons across the state. Prison conditions slowly improved and scandals became more infrequent. In 1993, Arkansas created the Department of Community Punishment (DCP), which would evolve into the DCC. Arkansas briefly contracted with a private prison between 1998 and 2001, but inmate conditions were unsafe and unsanitary and United States Department of Justice ruled Arkansas' private prison unconstitutional in 2003.
- ^ Michael R. Wickline (November 28, 2022). "Arkansas' number of full-time state employees up 108 in fiscal 2022". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Little Rock: WEHCO Media. ISSN 1060-4332. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
- ^ Fiscal Year 2022[1]
- ^ Staff of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (2022). "State of Arkansas Appropriation Summary" (PDF). 2022 Budget. Little Rock: Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
- ^ Fiscal Year 2022[3]