Arkansas purchases 815 acres of land for nearly $3 million to build new prison

Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas has purchased 815 acres of land to build a new prison intended to ease a backlog of inmates being held in county jails. Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and state corrections officials announced the land had been purchased in Charleston. The Board of Corrections must approve the site for a new prison before construction can begin. Lawmakers last year set aside $330 million for 3,000 new prison beds. About 2,500 inmates are housed in county jails. Sanders and the Board of Corrections last year got into a public dispute over who controls the state prison system.