© 2024 KASU
Your Connection to Music, News, Arts and Views for 65 Years
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Lawrence County will not house state prison

A sharply divided Lawrence County Quorum Court has decided not to apply for a new state prison near Walnut Ridge.  By a 5-4 vote, the Quorum Court shot down a proposal by County Judge Dale Freeman to seek an application for a proposed 100-million-dollar facility.  The Sun newspaper reports last night’s meeting included fierce debate over the issue.  Those who were for the prison say the facility would bring hundreds of new jobs to the region.  Freeman said the new prison would have helped bring an economic boom to the county and would have given   the county resources to attract big industries to the county.  Those who were against the jail say they were concerned about safety of Lawrence County citizens.  The new jail will be a maximum security prison that would house some of the state’s worst prisoners.  Justices that opposed the jail say they were concerned about what would happen if inmates were to escape from the jail.  After the vote last night, Freeman said the issue was dead and the county would not apply for the facility.  State officials are taking applications from communities that are interesting in housing a new jail.  Some of the requirements include having at least 400 acres of land and access to an airport and institutions of higher learning.  State officials plan to take the applications to the Arkansas Legislature in January and ask for funding to build the new facility.

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.