Arkansas Prisons

A lawsuit over who has the ultimate authority over the state prison system gained renewed life Thursday with the dismissal of a state appeal of a lower court preliminary injunction.

Investigators believe that a convicted murderer and former police chief known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” has likely fled Arkansas after escaping from prison last month,

A former police chief in Arkansas who is serving decades-long sentences for murder and rape escaped from prison Sunday, state corrections officials said.

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a lower court’s dismissal of the attorney general’s lawsuit against the state prison board for violating the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Officials must negotiate the price of the contract next.

Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday that she’s not in a rush to resume executions after signing legislation allowing the use of nitrogen gas to put inmates to death.

Members of the Arkansas Senate rejected a $750 million appropriations bill for a new state prison for a fifth time on Tuesday.

The Arkansas Senate on Tuesday rejected a $750 million appropriation bill to support construction of a 3,000-bed prison in Franklin County.

The figures come after some lawmakers balked at a Corrections Department appropriation without a budget.

Instead of building one prison in Charleston, money would be divided among already existing prisons.