Arkansas Supreme Court Bows to Governor’s Board of Correction Takeover
by Chuck Sharman
In a one-paragraph opinion issued on May 14, 2026, the Arkansas Supreme Court declined to review a lower court’s ruling that invalidated two new laws transferring much of the prison oversight authority formerly held by the state Board of Corrections (BOC) to Gov. Sarah H. Sanders (R). However, the high Court also ordered the state Circuit Court for Pulaski County on remand to take notice of a settlement reached between the governor and the BOC in March.
As PLN reported, that agreement saw the BOC cave in to Sanders’ power grab, in a vote to approve the settlement taken just hours after a new majority of members she appointed took their seats. The entire saga appeared to be an effort by the governor to beat back opposition to a new 3,000-bed prison that she wants to build—opposition that had steeled the BOC to oust former Department of Corrections (DOC) Director Joe Profiri, a supporter of the governor’s mega-prison plan whom she then hired as a corrections advisor. Rubbing the BOC’s nose in its political defeat, state Attorney General Tim Griffin penned a settlement agreement that included a vow to stop fighting the new laws and an admission to dubious sunshine law violations that he said were committed when the BOC used an executive session to discuss hiring an attorney for the effort. [See: PLN, May 2025, p.42.]
With its ruling, the state Supreme Court removed the last remaining obstacle to the settlement, meaning the BOC will give up its fight to keep Sanders from taking authority over Profiri’s replacement, DOC Director Lindsay Wallace, whom she appointed in 2024. The governor will also assume control of the DOC’s subsidiary Division of Correction, headed by Dexter Payne, and the Division of Community Correction, helmed by Jim Cheek. The high court refused a request to intervene by Abtin Mehdizadegan, the attorney that the BOC has now admitted to hiring illegally; under the settlement agreement, he will also not be paid some $320,000 that he is owed in fees.
Whether Sanders will get her new lockup remains an open question, however. State lawmakers have tabled negotiations over the prison’s $750 million price tag and begun reallocating $75 million in funds earmarked for the project. They are also discussing a line-item veto of Profiri’s salary from the governor’s budget. Arkansas already has the third-highest incarceration rate in the U.S., according to the nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative. See: Sanders v. Ark. Bd. of Corr., Ark. Case No. CV-25-742.
Additional source: Arkansas Advocate
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login