Arkansas committee concludes probe of Corrections Board’s hiring of outside counsel • Arkansas Advocate
An Arkansas legislative panel will meet today to vote on next steps after concluding its investigation of potential violations of procurement law by the state Board of Corrections. The Joint Performance Review Committee has spent three meetings this month examining the board’s hiring of attorney Abtin Mehdizadegan to represent it in litigation with the state. […]
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Lawmakers criticize Arkansas Board of Corrections members, attorney over altered contract • Arkansas Advocate
Arkansas lawmakers spent six hours Thursday raking state Board of Corrections leaders and the board’s outside attorney over changes to the lawyer’s contract and how the board conducts its business. Members of the Joint Performance Review Committee criticized prison board chairman Benny Magness and secretary Lee Watson over the handling of the lawyer’s hiring. They […]
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Arkansas Corrections Board plays fast and loose with open meetings law • Arkansas Advocate
Imagine a handful of journalists gathered in a small conference room at Department of Corrections headquarters in North Little Rock, their attention focused on an old business telephone on a small table as they strain to hear the disembodied and often unidentified voices of Board of Corrections members and staff emanating from the device. That’s […]
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Legislative panels to probe Arkansas Board of Corrections contract, practices • Arkansas Advocate
State lawmakers on Friday initiated a pair of investigations into the Arkansas Board of Corrections over the prison oversight panel’s hiring of special counsel to sue the state. The Legislative Joint Auditing Committee will investigate the origins of the board’s contract with the Hall Booth Smith law firm and attorney Abtin Mehdizadegan; Joint Performance Review […]
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Arkansas Board of Corrections to probe changes to special counsel contract • Arkansas Advocate
Arkansas’ prison board will investigate when and how changes were made to a legal contract without the knowledge of state procurement officials. State legislators, prison leaders and financial officials were perplexed Tuesday about unusual language inserted into an agreement between the Arkansas Department of Corrections/Board of Corrections and the Hall Booth Smith law firm that […]
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Arkansas Supreme Court won’t fast-track case against Board of Corrections • Arkansas Advocate
Arkansas’ highest court has rejected the attorney general’s request that it speed the appeal of his unsuccessful lawsuit against the state prison board. The Arkansas Supreme Court in a Thursday order denied AG Tim Griffin’s motion for expedited consideration of his Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Board of Corrections, which was dismissed by […]
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Arkansas prison board votes to name former state senator interim corrections secretary
The Arkansas Board of Corrections voted Wednesday to hire a former Republican state senator as the prison system’s interim head. The vote — which wasn’t included on the meeting’s agenda and required a suspension of the board’s rules — to make former Sen. Eddie Joe Williams of Cabot the interim secretary of the Department of […]
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Arkansas will add more state prison beds despite officials’ fears about understaffing
LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ administration has taken action to reduce overcrowding at state prisons by adding hundreds of new beds, going over the heads of corrections officials who had said staffing shortages would make it unsafe to add so many new prisoners all at once. The extra space is needed, […]
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