By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — The recent escape of two convicted killers from a state prison unit and the prison system’s ever increasing population prompted lawmakers to summon the state Department of Correction director to the Capitol for talks.
No one is blaming Prison Director Larry Norris for the recent problems, but questions have been raised, Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, told members of the Legislative Council on Friday.
Norris is to appear June 30 before the council’s Subcommittee on Charitable, Penal and Correctional institutions.
Glover, the subcommittee’s vice chairman, said Friday that Norris was originally asked to attend a meeting with lawmakers last month but the prison director had to cancel because of the May 29 prison break.
Two inmates dressed in correctional officers uniforms walk out of the Cummins Unit and drove off in a car that had been left in the parking lot for them. Calvin Adams and Jeffrey Grinder were captured four days later driving the vehicle western New York state.
Five corrections officers who were working at various posts along the route Adams and Grinder used to walk out of prison have been fired. Prison spokeswoman Dina Tyler said Thursday a department investigation has not found any evidence that the five helped the two escape.
Two inmates suspected of helping Adams and Grinder escape face disciplinary action and possible criminal charges, Tyler said. A state police are still investigating the escape, she said.
Three people also have been arrested for allegedly leaving the getaway car in the Cummins Unit parking lot. Deana Davidson, 41, and Ryan McKinney, 46, both of Little Rock, and Michael Stephenson, 50 of Jacksonville, have been charged with furnishing an implement for escape, a felony.
Sen. Hank Wilkins, D-Pine Bluff, said Friday he wants to make sure the prison break is discussed at the June 30 meeting, and “what measures have been instituted to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Meanwhile, the state prison population Friday was 14,950, including 1,383 state inmates housed in county jails while awaiting beds at a state facility, prison spokesman George Brewer said. Last year at this time, the prison population was 14,700.
“We’ve got a real serious problem with that population that continues to grow, and grow, and grow,” Glover said. “We’re going to be looking into it at great depth and have some recommendations to make at a later date.”
Glover said he would to see more programs for children and young adults detailing the difficulties and horrors of prison life.
The senator said he sponsored such a program about 20 years ago, where young people could be ordered by a circuit judge to spend a day touring one of the prisons. Glover said the program appeared to be effective initially, but he said he did not know if any judges still participated.
