In the last episode of Arkansas Week that I hosted while working at Arkansas PBS, discussions delved into two aspects of the criminal justice system: prison recidivism and drug addiction.
Joining me in the first segment of the Oct. 31 program were state Sen. Ben Gilmore, a Republican of Crossett, and Jim Bell, the owner of a reentry facility in Little Rock. Gilmore has sponsored prison-related legislation in recent years while Bell works to prepare inmates for their return to society.
Arkansas has one of the highest recidivism rates in the country, with data showing within three years of their release, about half of all state prison inmates end up back behind bars for new offenses or violating the terms of their release. The pattern is not only bad for inmates who don’t get the support needed to change their lives, but expensive for the state, costing about $2,200 a month per inmate.
Arkansas’s prison population is growing, with projections indicating an average annual increase of about 2% through 2035. State prisons have been at capacity for years, with about 1,500 inmates currently backed up in county jails. To accommodate the situation, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced a plan in October 2024 to construct a 3,000-bed prison in rural Franklin County.
Local residents were surprised by the announcement and to learn land had already been purchased by the state. Among their complaints were a lack of transparency and poor site selection. Test wells showed there isn’t enough water in the area to support the needs of a prison. Meanwhile the cost, which was initially said to be $470 million, has quickly grown to be about twice that.
In the second segment, state Attorney General Tim Griffin shared the story of addiction that eventually took the life of his brother Daniel. He’s working to raise awareness of the dangers of opioids through the “One Pill Can Kill” initiative, in which he has been speaking at college campuses across the state.
Arkansas PBS streamed several of those events, and I had been moved by hearing him describe what happened to his brother. After a botched back surgery 15 years ago, Griffin said his brother was prescribed powerful painkillers and quickly became addicted. While there were plenty of other unrelated issues I could have asked Griffin about, including the prison-related topics discussed in the first segment of the program, I wanted to limit our discussion to addiction and what he’s trying to accomplish now.
A few final thoughts on Arkansas PBS, added Dec. 14
My last day of work as Director of Public Affairs for Arkansas PBS was Nov. 12. Maybe I’ll discuss more about the circumstances of the end of my employment in the future, but it wouldn’t be appropriate now. I really enjoyed the past three years, which were filled with a lot of challenges and opportunities. In addition to overseeing Arkansas Week, I appeared on camera for pledge drives and organized our 2024 congressional debates. The staff of nearly 80 people really was like a family with employees being very supportive and protective of one another. Also, the level of talent in the building was amazing.
The key challenge in my department was not having editorial independence while attempting to produce a public affairs program with journalistic integrity. Being a state agency, my bosses at Arkansas PBS lived in fear of upsetting the governor’s administration or state legislators. The General Assembly has control over the station’s budget allocation and lawmakers often grilled managers during public hearings, sometimes with rather petty grievances. Also, the commission which has oversight over Arkansas PBS is made up of appointees of the governor, each serving eight-year terms. While this has always been the structure the station has operated under in its nearly 60-year existence, the sharply partisan tone of politics in 2025 has made it harder to function.
While leading weekly editorial meetings to discuss potential topics for Arkansas Week, top leadership often instructed us not to include some controversial issues, even if they were huge legitimate news stories. The episode above, for example, was the first time we had been allowed to question a state lawmaker about the proposed Franklin County prison, which had been one of the most discussed ongoing issues for the previous 13 months. When I began appearing on Arkansas Week in 2010 as one of the journalists taking part in roundtable discussions, there were no such restrictions or topics that were out of bounds.
Veteran news reporter, editor and manager spanning more than 30 years at newspapers, radio and television stations. I’m also a photographer, historian and author, having written the 2017 book Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas and hosting a podcast of the same name.
