Arkansas Prison Attacks Force Hutchinson​ To Call For More Safeguards

LITTLE ROCK, AR — Several inmates at the Varner Unit assaulted two guards Thursday, hours after a prisoner attacked a guard at the Maximum Security Unit in Tucker. Now, Gov. Asa Hutchinson is calling for additional safeguards at the state's prisons, saying he's greatly concerned by the violence.

One guard at Varner suffered an unspecified injury in the attack and another suffered multiple cuts. Both were treated and released from a hospital, Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves said Friday. The guard attacked at the Maximum Security Unit suffered multiple injuries to the face and head and remained hospitalized. Several inmates at Varner barricaded themselves in a barrack after Thursday's assault and were also taken to a hospital after officers used nonlethal force on them, authorities said.

The department has said the attacks seem unrelated. (For more information on Arkansas's prisons and other Across Arkansas stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

"The multiple incidences in the past few months of violence indicate there is a need for additional safeguards," Hutchinson, a Republican, said in a statement released by his office. "I have met with (Department of Correction) Director Wendy Kelley and Board of Corrections' Chairman Benny Magness, and I have asked Director Kelley for an action plan with options to address the problem and to ensure order and safety in the prison system. Director Kelley and her team have my full support as they address this challenge."

The assaults follow two other disturbances at the Maximum Security Unit — also known as Tucker Max — in recent months. In August, several inmates held three guards hostage after snatching their keys and a Taser and a month before that, a guard fired warning shots into the air after two guards and an inmate were attacked there. Other incidents elsewhere include a disturbance where inmates broke windows and damaged windows at the Cummins Unit and the fatal assault of an inmate at another facility this summer.

Varner is one of four prisons where lawmakers last month approved raising hazard pay, a move that correction officials said was needed to fill vacancies. Nearly a third of the 305 authorized security positions at Varner were vacant as of Thursday, according to the Department of Correction, while roughly a fifth of the 203 security position at the Tucker Max unit were vacant.

By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press

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