Add Jackson County to the list of those counties in the state that want a new maximum security state prison. KAIT television reports the Jackson County Quorum Court is expected to approve a resolution tomorrow night that will support building a new state prison in Jackson County. Jackson County houses two state prisons: Grimes and McPherson are both located just miles northeast of Newport. Director of Economic Development in Newport Jon Chadwell says the new $100 million, 1,000 bed maximum security prison would provide a stable income for those in the community. The proposed new jail would house the state’s most dangerous criminals and would be located on 400 acres of land. Chadwell says they have formed a committee of county and city officials to write a proposal to send to the state. The Arkansas Board of Corrections is accepting requests through next month and hopes to secure a site before next year’s legislative session starts in January.
Johnathan Reaves is the News Director for KASU Public Radio. As part of an Air Force Family, he moved to Arkansas from Minot, North Dakota in 1986. He was first bitten by the radio bug after he graduated from Gosnell High School in 1992. While working on his undergraduate degree, he worked at KOSE, a small 1,000 watt AM commercial station in Osceola, Arkansas. Upon graduation from Arkansas State University in 1996 with a degree in Radio-Television Broadcast News, he decided that he wanted to stay in radio news. He moved to Stuttgart, Arkansas and worked for East Arkansas Broadcasters as news director and was there for 16 years.