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52-529: Arkansas Correctional School District , also known as the Arkansas Correctional School ( ACS ), and previously the Arkansas Department of Correction School District ( ADCSD ), is the education system that serves the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) prisons and the Arkansas Department of Community Corrections (DCC) facilities. The district opened in 1973 when Act 279 was passed by

104-588: A "parent unit" for their initial assignment. The male parent units are Cummins , East Arkansas , Grimes , Tucker , and Varner . The McPherson Unit is the female parent unit. The initial assignments last for at least 60 days. Inmates may be moved to other units based on behavior, institutional needs, job availability, and available space. The ADC operates the Willis H. Sargent Training Academy in England, Arkansas . In Arkansas's shared services model of state government,

156-491: A 2013 murder, the Arkansas Board of Corrections changed the conditions of parole, stating that any parolee accused of committing a felony must have his/her parole revoked, even if he/she has not yet been convicted of that felony. This caused the prison population to increase. Prisons include: The Division of Community Corrections ( DCC ) is the parole and community corrections state agency of Arkansas . ACC headquarters

208-592: A 92.41-acre (37.40 ha) tract outside of Little Rock in 1839, and the Third General Assembly allocated another $ 40,500 ($ 1,236,000 today) in 1840 to finish construction of the Arkansas State Penitentiary. It held 300 prisoners. It was destroyed in 1846 in a prisoner revolt. From 1849 to 1893 the State of Arkansas leased its convicted felons to private individuals. After abuses became publicized,

260-542: A junior law partner. Focusing on homestead cases, the law practice had become rather successful. The elder Davis, buoyed by a growing law practice while also working as a newspaper editor, real estate broker, and local booster, had become one of the county's most successful citizens. The elder Davis won election to the Arkansas General Assembly in 1877. Jeff Davis became deeply involved in political campaigns as early as 1884. After supporting Grover Cleveland in

312-499: A leather strap", and to allow access to medical care and legal resources without fear or reprisals. The case initiated a long legal saga that would eventually lead to major reforms in Arkansas prisons. Governor Orval Faubus ordered a study of conditions at Tucker, but suppressed the report when it found torture, violence, rape, corruption and graft widespread by both trusties and prison officials. The report also found "To make profits,

364-619: A new prison was built. Though officials agreed on the need to purchase a prison farm , widespread disagreement about the new prison's location stalled progress further. Governor Jeff Davis vetoed a plan to purchase the Sunnyside Plantation in February 1901. Further trying to make his case for more sweeping penal reform, Governor Davis toured the convict-leasing camp in England, Arkansas and revealed shocking allegations of inhumane treatment. The political battle consumed state politics for

416-595: A new state house and reformed the penal system. An almost-constant series of scandals and outrageous behavior characterized his time in office, which followed him when he won election to the Senate in 1906. Davis is often classified with such populist politicians as Benjamin Tillman , Robert Love Taylor , Thomas E. Watson , James K. Vardaman , Coleman Livingston Blease , and then Huey Long , controversial figures who were Southern demagogues, populists, and political bosses . Davis

468-454: A posse to oppose Clayton's militia, but after several skirmishes, the militia gained control of the county. Local history tells of rape, torture, murder and pillaging of blacks and white Republican sympathizers by the militia in the ensuing months. The martial law months were later described by Jeff Davis as the "most bitter episode of his youth". In 1869 the Davis family moved to Dover, Arkansas in

520-455: A state in 1836. The first Governor of Arkansas , James S. Conway , pushed the Arkansas General Assembly to allocate funds for a state penitentiary in their first meeting, but he met strong resistance with many of his proposals, and a penitentiary was not funded. The Second General Assembly in 1838 allocated $ 20,000 ($ 572,000 today) to a state penitentiary in Little Rock. The state purchased

572-569: Is located in North Little Rock. Facilities include: Arkansas Correctional School provides educational services to ADC prisoners and DCC facilities. Jeff Davis (Arkansas governor) Jeff Davis (born Jefferson Davis ; May 6, 1862 – January 3, 1913) was an American Democratic politician who served as the 20th governor of Arkansas from 1901 to 1907 and in the U.S. Senate from 1907 to 1913. He took office as one of Arkansas's first New South governors and proved to be one of

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624-610: The 1888 presidential election , Davis decided to run for district prosecuting attorney in the Fifth Judicial District the following cycle. At the time, the South was ruled by an unofficial one-party system , with Democratic hegemony, white supremacy , and black disfranchisement remaining intertwined after Reconstruction and well into the 20th century. Prominent landowning white men of the former planter class were returned to power by Democratic supporters and known as Redeemers in

676-608: The Arkansas General Assembly . The agency has its headquarters within the Pine Bluff Complex in Pine Bluff . Since the beginning of the 1997–98 school year, ADC inmates without a high school diploma who have not passed their GED high-school equivalency exam have been required to take ACS classes. 34°13′08″N 92°04′59″W  /  34.21886°N 92.08319°W  / 34.21886; -92.08319 Arkansas Department of Corrections The Department of Corrections

728-565: The Arkansas River Valley . Following a move to Pope County, Lewis Davis found that his previous service as judge quickly elevated him within a very small legal community. However, the Davis family had moved into a post-war situation that was similarly violent to that of Little River County and rooted deep in Pope County's past. With the population divided sharply into city-country and Union-Rebel factions, both sides held grudges long after

780-627: 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 prominent,

832-580: The Ku Klux Klan and Knights of the White Camelia to intimidate blacks and Republicans. The rough and tumble nature of Little River County was especially conductive for gangs, outlaws and violence. Eventually the situation devolved to such lawlessness that governor Powell Clayton declared martial law in Little River and nine other counties to restore order. Desperado Cullen Baker initially assembled

884-483: The Ku Klux Klan , also rose to prominence during the period. Together with common whites, they committed countless lynchings and other acts of violence against Republicans, blacks, and other groups. Davis is often classified with politicians such as Benjamin Tillman , Robert Love Taylor , Thomas E. Watson , James K. Vardaman , Coleman Livingston Blease , and later Huey Long , controversial figures who were Southern demagogues, populists, and political bosses . Davis

936-868: The Ouchita River Correctional Unit in Malvern , and women go to the McPherson Unit in Newport . Male death row inmates are housed at the Varner Super Max Unit while women with death sentences are received at McPherson. The death chamber is located at the Cummins Unit. Previously the Diagnostic Unit in Pine Bluff was the intake unit for male prisoners. After the intake process, most inmates go to

988-500: The Red River Campaign through the county, an unsuccessful attempt to capture Shreveport, Louisiana via southwest Arkansas. Beginning in 1865, Laynesport, not far from the Davis property, was fortified as a Confederate garrison. Perhaps equally indelible was the romanticism of " The Lost Cause " myth in the years following the war; as a majority of southwestern Arkansas residents remained staunch Confederate supporters. Following

1040-548: The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 at the federal level, the law was sufficiently broad to have little immediate impact, and was largely made ineffective by the United States Supreme Court case United States v. E. C. Knight Co. , leaving state legislatures to address trusts. A new antitrust bill passed by the 32nd Arkansas General Assembly , focused on perceived price fixing of fire insurance rates in

1092-638: The Tucker Unit , were moved to the Cummins Unit. In 1986 male death row inmates were moved to the Maximum Security Unit . On Friday August 22, 2003, all 39 Arkansas death row inmates, all of them male, were moved to the Supermax at the Varner Unit. As of June 3, 2015 the ADC has 18,681 prisoners. This is an increase from 1977, when it had 2,519 prisoners. After a parole violator was accused of committing

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1144-520: The 1960s, Arkansas was infamous for operating one of the most corrupt and dangerous prison systems in the nation. Both Cummins and Tucker relied on the trusty system , which created a hierarchy of prisoners, with some designated as 'trusties' who the guards trusted with many of the day-to-day duties. The Tucker Telephone was a torture device designed using parts from an old-fashioned crank telephone used to apply an electric shock to an uncooperative prisoner's genitals at Tucker. Atrocious conditions in

1196-552: The ADC unconstitutional, as issues restricting inmates' access to court and cruel and unusual punishment remained in violation of his previous ruling. A 1969 case challenging many aspects of the ADC prison system lasted almost a decade, resulting in the Supreme Court landmark case Hutto v. Finney 437 U.S. 678 ( 437 U.S. 678 (1978)). The case also clarified prison system's unacceptable punitive measures. T. Don Hutto had been hired by Governor Dale Bumpers in 1971 as

1248-598: 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. Arkansas became

1300-566: The cabinet level Department of Corrections (DOC) as the umbrella department for several corrections-related state agencies. DOC oversees administrative functions for these several units, including the Division of Community Corrections (DCC), Arkansas Parole Board (APB), Arkansas Sentencing Commission (ASC), Arkansas Criminal Detention Facility Review Committee, and the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision. The primary duties of

1352-517: The cabinet-level agencies assist boards and commissions who have an overlapping scope. DOC supports: Male death row inmates are located at the Varner Unit 's Supermax , while the executions are performed at the Cummins Unit , adjacent to Varner. The female death row is located at the McPherson Unit . In 1999 the female death row was newly inaugurated. In 1974 male death row inmates, previously at

1404-439: The cities of Arkansas, especially Hot Springs , raised the issue's prominence in Arkansas politics by uniting city dwellers alongside rural Arkansans in anger against the trusts. Elected in 1900, Davis served as Governor of Arkansas from 1901 to 1907. In 1905, when US President Theodore Roosevelt visited Arkansas, Davis greeted him with a speech that defended lynching as a means of social control. Roosevelt responded with

1456-492: The establishment of a permanent execution chamber in the state prison system. In 1916 the state purchased the land which became the Tucker Unit . In 1933 Junius Marion Futrell , then the governor, closed the penitentiary in Little Rock and transferred the prisoners to Cummins and Tucker, and the execution chamber was moved to Tucker. In 1943 the state established the State Penitentiary Board through Act 1. In 1951

1508-739: The first professional penologist , Tom Murton , as prison superintendent in 1967. On January 29, 1968, Murton invited the media to witness the unearthing of three decayed skeletal remains in a remote part of the 16,000-acre grounds of the Cummins prison farm. They believed the skeletons were those of prisoners murdered at Cummins, although this was never proven. Fired after less than a year, Murton's aggressive approach to uncovering Arkansas' prison scandal with its decades-long systemic corruption, embarrassed Rockefeller and "infuriated conservative politicians". Murton had attracted nationwide media attention and contempt for Arkansas, as news of Bodiesburg , as it

1560-751: The four had been killed. Pope County Democrats became heroes across the state for openly providing armed resistance to Powell Clayton's state militia. Such Reconstruction violence continued to have a strong effect on ten-year-old Jeff Davis. Davis attended public schools in Russellville, Arkansas . After being rejected by West Point in 1878, Davis enrolled at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville , where he studied until 1880. He transferred to Vanderbilt University in Nashville , Tennessee . Although he completed

1612-530: The head of the Arkansas Department of Correction, with a mandate of "humanizing" the "convict farms". In 1974, Hutto resigned and moved to Virginia to become deputy director of the Virginia Department of Corrections . In 2014 the state made a call for cities to submit bids to host a new maximum security prison. Following state government reorganization in 2019, the State of Arkansas created

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1664-641: The legality of the Kimball State House Act and made an extremely-controversial extraterritorial interpretation of the Rector Antitrust Act. His fight to prevent trusts from doing business in Arkansas and the extreme lengths that he went to enforce his opinion would be a common theme throughout his political career. He gained credibility among the poor white farmers, who would become his base. Davis's three two-year terms as governor "produced more politics than government," but he gained construction of

1716-491: The moneyed interests that held back the common man. Davis often used words such as "rednecks" or "hillbillies" but as terms of endearment rather than pejorative, a technique that Huey Long would learn from Davis and later use successfully in Louisiana . Like many of his contemporaries, Davis used a rhetoric that was strongly racist and segregationist . Although Davis did not succeed in implementing many of his racist promises on

1768-567: The next year. The General Assembly decided to purchase the Cummins Farm over the objection of Governor Davis, who preferred a location in Altheimer . However, ending the convict-lease system would remain an issue in state politics for the next 10 years. A new prison was simultaneously constructed on a new 15-acre (6.1 ha) site southwest of Little Rock. Nicknamed "The Walls", the new prison opened in 1910. In 1913 act 55, signed into law, lead to

1820-659: The old ADC is now under the auspices of the Division of Corrections , with DCC becoming the Division of Community Corrections , with both reporting to the Secretary of Corrections, a cabinet-level position. The headquarters are in Pine Bluff . The ADC headquarters moved to the Pine Bluff Complex in 1979. Previously they were located in the State Office Building in Little Rock . For the diagnostic process, male inmates go to

1872-550: The politician did nothing to discourage and may have covertly encouraged. Davis served as prosecuting attorney of the Fifth Judicial District of Arkansas from 1892 to 1896. Davis was elected as Arkansas Attorney General in 1898 and served a single term. He focused on one of the primary issues of the Progressive Era : the creation of antitrust law to regulate trusts , meaning large companies or combinations abusing market power or tending toward monopoly . Despite passage of

1924-549: The previously suppressed report publicly upon election to the Governor's office in 1967. Rockefeller succeeded in reorganizing the penitentiary system into the Arkansas Department of Correction through Act 50 in the 66th Arkansas General Assembly . The ADC assumed control over the Tucker State Prison Farm for younger white prisoners, and the 1,300-inmate Cummins Farm for "white and black adult inmates". Rockefeller hired

1976-539: The prison system had long been known about in Arkansas, but rose in prominence during the 1960s. In 1965, Federal Judge J. Smith Henley ruled in favor of Cummins inmates in Talley v. Stephens , who sued claiming they were unconstitutionally subjected to cruel and unusual punishments and denied access to the courts and medical care. Henley ordered the prison stop forcing prisoners to work beyond their physical ability, cease arbitrary use of corporal punishment by "blows with

2028-426: The prisoners were driven remorselessly from dawn to dusk in the fields, especially at harvest time". Both farms were operated to generate revenues to the state. A 1968 Time article entitled "Hell in Arkansas" found the two farms "averaged" profits of "about $ 1,400,000 over the years..." ($ 12.3 million today) using prisoners as forced labor. Winthrop Rockefeller , running on a good government platform, released

2080-581: The state assumed direct control of felons. The state continued to have prison labor be hired to contractors, manufacturers, and planters until 1913. In 1899, the penitentiary site was selected for the new Arkansas State Capitol , which supplanted the Old State House . In the interim, Arkansas leased many convicts to companies, including the Arkansas Brick Manufacturing Company, for as long as ten years in an effort to house them while

2132-588: The state established the State Reformatory for Women through Act 351. The state moved the functions of the Arkansas State Training School for Girls to the state prison system. Discipline was routinely enforced by flogging, beating with clubs, inserting of needles under fingernails, crushing of testicles with pliers, and the last word in torture devices: the " Tucker telephone ," an instrument used to send an electric current through genitals By

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2184-540: The state's most polarizing figures. Davis used his silver tongue and aptitude for demagoguery to exploit existing feelings of agrarian frustration among poor white farmers and thus built a large populist appeal. However, since Davis often blamed city-dwellers, blacks, and Yankees for problems on the farm, the state was quickly and ardently split into "pro-Davis" and "anti-Davis" factions. Davis began his political career as Arkansas Attorney General , where he immediately began making political waves. His office challenged

2236-487: The stump, he supported disfranchisement of blacks, segregation of school taxes, and white supremacy. He attacked 1904 gubernatorial opponent Carroll D. Wood for appointing a black man as a jury commissioner and promised that "no man could be appointed to office under my administration unless he was a white man, a Democrat, and a Jeff Davis man." It was said that many of his supporters incorrectly believed Davis to be related to Confederate President Jefferson Davis , which

2288-784: The two-year law curriculum in one year, the Vanderbilt University Law School withheld his diploma for failure to satisfy their residency requirement. With the help of his father's influence, Davis returned to Russellville in the summer of 1881 and was accepted to the Arkansas Bar Association despite being underaged. In the fall of 1881, Davis enrolled at Cumberland University , which granted his law degree in May 1882. Now twenty years old, Davis joined his father's law firm, L.W. Davis and Son, Attorneys, in Russellville as

2340-514: The waning years of Reconstruction. After 1877, they largely ruled statewide and national positions as well as an increasing number of local positions once the state passed disenfranchisement of blacks. They sought to reverse Republican gains made during Reconstruction and to return to white supremacy of the Antebellum South by disenfranchising most blacks and imposing Jim Crow laws . An insurgent paramilitary component, including groups such as

2392-481: The war was over. The Republican domination of local government resulted in resentment by the ex-Confederate Democrats, and the situation exploded in 1872. In what was later known as the Pope County Militia War , the county experienced a period of political and civil troubles while an unofficial militia headed by four radical Republican aligned county officials ran roughshod over the county. By its end, three of

2444-489: The war, Lewis Davis was elected to serve as county and probate judge of Sevier County, and later Little River County following its creation by the state legislature in 1867. The following year, Congressional or Radical Reconstruction swept Davis and most other Democrats from office by temporarily banning former Confederates from office and passing amendments to enfranchise freedmen . Confederate supporters did not accept this political overhaul, turning to vigilante groups such as

2496-601: Was born near Rocky Comfort in Little River County in southwestern Arkansas. His parents were Lewis W. Davis, a Baptist preacher originally from Kentucky , and his wife Elizabeth Phillips, originally from Tuscaloosa, Alabama . Lewis Davis did not join the Confederate army until drafted in 1864. He named his only son after Jefferson Davis , then- President of the Confederate States of America . His military service

2548-508: Was called, spread. Murton's co-authored 1969 book, Accomplices to the Crime: The Arkansas Prison Scandal was the basis for the fictionalized 1980 film Brubaker starring Robert Redford . In Holt v. Sarver , Judge Henley ruled several aspects of Arkansas's prison system unconstitutional and provided guidelines to get the system into compliance. The following year, Henley found the entire prison system operated by

2600-510: Was largely performed as a chaplain's commission, but he quit the ministry following the war and became a lawyer. No Civil War battles were fought within Sevier County's bounds, but there were many opportunities for the war to make an impression on the young Jeff Davis. After the Union captured Little Rock in 1863, the state capitol was moved to Washington . Union General Nathaniel Banks later led

2652-413: 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

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2704-473: Was one of many Southern demagogue politicians who rose to power on a populist message of agrarian frustration with big business and elites. His coarse language, insults, and theatrics were all crafted to enhance his "common man" credentials. Davis made a career of skewering the business interests, newspapers , and urban dwellers to appeal to the poor rural citizens, the majority of the population. He portrayed himself as “just another poor country boy” against

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