Legislative subcommittee to hear from ADC Director Larry Norris tomorrow

The Charitable, Penal and Correctional Institutions Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council meets tomorrow afternoon at the Capitol, and the first item of business is a report from Larry Norris, Director of the Arkansas Department of Correction on the widely publicized pending investigations within the department. I sit on the committee, and I know I'm not alone in concerns regarding the incidents that have occurred within the department. I've fielded calls from constituents wanting to know what's going on in our prison system, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get them a few answers tomorrow. Among some of the recent incidents:

• Two convicted murderers walked out of prison by wearing guard uniforms made at the facility;
• A naked inmate was left covered in excrement for a weekend; and
• Guards have received lap dances while on the job.

While I believe these are isolated incidents (and, in agreement with the governor, are not out of line with incidents that have occurred in other states), it's our job as representatives accountable to the people for public safety reasons to determine whether department policies are being followed and/or should be reviewed. You only have to turn it to Lockup on MSNBC on any given weekend to see how difficult it is running a prison system made up of 15,000 inmates, and I know the job isn't an easy one. I have the utmost confidence in Director Norris and am hopeful that we'll discuss ways of preventing similar incidents from occurring in the future. Is the department capable of investigating itself? Probably so, but several of the people calling here would like to see an external look from a fresh set of eyes.