Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 2, February 2024
I.
AUTHORITY:
The authority of the Board of Corrections to promulgate this
Administrative Rule is vested in Act 50 of 1968, First Extraordinary Session,
as amended; Act 418 of 1987, Regular Session; Act 684 of 1991, Regular Session;
Act 1721 of 2003, Regular Session, and A.C.A.
12-28-601 -
12-28-606.
II.
PURPOSE:
To establish the policy by which the Board of Corrections may,
when the county jail backlog exceeds 500 inmates, release eligible inmates from
the Department of Correction prior to their normal release date.
III.
APPLICABILITY:
The Board of Corrections; all departmental employees, especially
those involved in release processing; and all inmates.
IV.
DEFINITIONS:
A. County backlog: Inmates sentenced to the
Arkansas Department of Correction that is being housed in the county jails
until space is available in the prison.
B. Discharge: The unconditional release of an
inmate or person on release supervision upon the expiration of a sentenced term
of years pursuant to Arkansas codes.
C. Eligible Inmate: Class I or Class II
inmates, convicted of non-violent offenses, who are eligible for parole,
transfer or discharge and not serving a legislatively mandated 70% or more
sentences, who have been incarcerated in a Department of Correction facility
for a minimum of six (6) months.
V.
POLICY:
It shall be the policy of the Department of Correction and the
Board of Corrections to review the inmate population of the Department and, at
the Board's discretion, invoke the Emergency Powers Act based on a county
backlog exceeding 500.
VI.
PROCEDURES:
Overcrowding based on county jail backlog.
A. When the board declares a prison
overcrowding state of emergency due to the county jail backlog exceeding five
hundred (500) inmates and notifies the Director of the Department of Correction
of the emergency as authorized, the director shall certify to the board a list
of those eligible inmates who are in Class I or Class II status who have been
incarcerated in a Department of Correction facility for a minimum of six (6)
months and are serving a sentence for a nonviolent offense as established by
the Board of Corrections and the director shall indicate which eligible inmates
he or she recommends.
B. The listed
inmates shall be those who, if authorized, would have their parole eligibility,
transfer eligibility, or discharge dates moved up to a point where they would
immediately be eligible for parole, transfer, or discharge.
C. Upon the receipt of the list of eligible
inmates certified by the director, the board is authorized to move up the
projected parole eligibility, transfer eligibility, or discharge dates of any
or all eligible inmates on the list by up to one (1) year.
Board Approval Date: 7/11/2003
Effective Date: 7/25/03
