By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — An incident in which an Arkansas prison inmate nearly died after he was left lying naked in his own feces over a weekend was not serious enough to merit discussion by the state Board of Corrections, the board’s chairman said Thursday.
“It was reported to us that the inmate was doing well, he was not going to expire,” Chairman Benny Magness told a legislative panel. “The director told us what the investigation showed, and he terminated the employees that were involved. It satisfied at least me that it didn’t need to come to the board.”
Magness fielded lawmakers’ questions for about an hour Thursday while testifying before the Charitable, Penal and Correctional Institutions Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council. Lawmakers expressed skepticism and frustration with Magness’ answers.
“No one seemed to think that it needed to be discussed in the public forum … It shadows you from actually being held accountable by this body or any other body, and I think that’s the frustration here,” said Rep. Mark Martin, R-Prairie Grove.
Magness said the seven-member Board of Corrections is a supervisory and policy-making board and is not responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the prisons.
“We don’t take action on every incident. We get anywhere from 20-30 incidents a day,” he said.
“If you do not have interest or available time to look into deals like this at an official meeting and discuss them, then I say you ought to get off the board and let’s get somebody that does,” said Sen. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette.
Magness also said discussion of incidents in the prisons often involves discussion of personnel matters.
Rep. Rick Saunders, D-Hot Springs, said he believed the prison system would open itself up to lawsuits if it discussed personnel issues in public.
Two correctional officers were fired and 15 employees were disciplined after the incident in which the inmate was left in his own feces. The incident occurred in January at the Tucker Unit.
Legislators also asked about the escape of two convicted killers from the Cummins Unit in May and the June shooting death of a parolee at the Tucker Unit.
Magness said he appointed a committee to investigate the escape, and the committee is expected to present a report to the board at its next meeting on Aug. 6. Six correctional officers were fired and one was suspended for five days following the escape of the inmates, who left the prison wearing guard uniforms.
Magness said he has not assigned a committee to investigate the shooting, but state police are investigating that incident.
Lawmakers also asked why the minutes of Board of Corrections meetings do not refer to discussions of problems in the prisons. Magness said the minutes only reflect actions taken by the board, not matters that are simply discussed.
Magness told legislators he receives e-mails daily about incidents in the prisons. Rep. Steve Harrelson, D-Texarkana, asked if releasing the e-mails would relieve concerns that the board is ignoring important matters.
Prison Director Larry Norris said the e-mails would not be released.
“They contain inmates’ names. They are part of the inmate’s record and they are not public records, so we do not release them,” Norris said.
Magness was asked after the hearing how the public can judge the performance of the Board of Corrections if information about incidents in the prisons is communicated in secret.
“I think that’s up to the governor to judge our performance,” he told reporters. “Of course it’s the public too, but there’s certain things that you might realize that we can’t release.”
