More than 700 made eligible to seek early parole hearings
More than 700 made eligible to seek early parole hearings
Wednesday, Nov 30, 2005
By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK - Faced with bulging prison units, the state Board of Correction invoked the Emergency Powers Act on Tuesday, making up to 712 inmates eligible for early parole.
The action enables the prison board to move parole hearings up 90 days for nonviolent offenders because of overcrowding. A prison spokeswoman said 632 male prisoners and 80 women would be eligible.
Spokeswoman Dina Tyler said state prisons housed 12,704 inmates Tuesday - 11,944 men and 760 women - in units built to hold 12,178 inmates. Another 536 state prisoners were being housed in county jails because there was no room for them in the prison system, she said.
"The EPA, hopefully, especially in the female area, will give us a little relief," Tyler said, noting that a new 200-bed unit for women is expected to open April 1 at Wrightsville. "This should buy us a little time."
Another 200-bed unit is to open in April 2007 at the McPherson Unit in Newport.
Tyler said about 30 percent of all women in prison were convicted of drug-related offenses, compared to about 21 percent of all prison inmates.
Originally, the Emergency Powers Act allowed the board to grant parole hearings for state inmates when the prison population exceeded 98 percent of capacity for 30 consecutive days.
In 2003, the Legislature expanded the act by also allowing the board to make eligible for early parole nonviolent offenders who have served at least six months when the county jail backlog of state prisoners exceeds 500.
Tyler said Tuesday's decision by the board would not automatically allow the 712 parole-eligible inmates to go free, but does allow them to receive an early parole hearing before the Post Prison Transfer Board.
Those hearings probably will not begin for several weeks, she said.
http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2005/11/30/News/331490.html
