Arkansas judge to rule within 30 days in lawsuit on who controls prison system

A Pulaski County judge said she would issue a ruling within 30 days after hearing arguments Wednesday on whether she would continue blocking laws that shift the authority to fire top prison officials from the Arkansas Board of Corrections to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The hearing on the joint motion filed by the Republican governor and the board came after the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that Pulaski County Circuit Judge Patricia James needed to “consider” lifting her injunction against the laws. 

Judge says Arkansas corrections secretary serves at pleasure of Board of Corrections, not governor

The measures have been the focus of a legal battle between the board and the Republican governor since 2023. Following public tensions with Sanders over adding more beds to the state’s overcrowded prisons, corrections board members moved to suspend Joe Profiri, Sanders’ handpicked corrections secretary.

Profiri said he answered to Sanders, pointing to the two laws passed by the Legislature earlier that year. The board, then led by Benny Magness, sued, arguing the laws violated Amendment 33 of the Arkansas Constitution, which safeguards the independence of the corrections board. 

James agreed, placing a permanent injunction on the laws.

Sanders appealed James’ rulings to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Since James’ ruling, Sanders appointees gained a majority, holding four of the board’s seven seats. The board voted 4-3 to settle the lawsuit earlier this year.

The Supreme Court then handed the case back to the lower court, ordering James to “consider a joint motion to lift the injunction and enter an agreed order.”

Arkansas Supreme Court sends lawsuit over prison board authority back to lower court

The settlement saw the board reverse the position it had taken under Magness’ chairmanship by accepting Sanders’ argument that shifting to her the authority to fire top prison officials did not violate the Arkansas Constitution. 

Under the settlement, the board also agreed that Abtin Mehdizadegan, the attorney it hired to represent them in the lawsuit and related litigation over Arkansas Freedom of Information Act violations, was hired illegally and wouldn’t be paid. Mehdizadegan filed a motion to intervene in the case Tuesday, but James said she would not take it up during Wednesday’s hearing.

Attorneys for Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin, who represents Sanders, told James Wednesday that the settlement made the injunction moot, since the board and Sanders now agree that the laws are constitutional. Attorneys with Griffin’s office also said that the Supreme Court’s order requires James to lift the injunction.

“Any other reading of the Supreme Court’s order would make little sense,” said Noah Watson, a deputy solicitor general with Griffin’s office.

Former Arkansas Corrections Board chair, current member allowed to intervene in lawsuit

But the attorney for Lee Watson, a member of the Board of Corrections who was appointed by former Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and Magness, the former board chairman, urged her to leave her injunction in place, saying the situation was a “perfect fit” for why Arkansans voted to add Amendment 33 in the first place.

“‘Consider’ does not presuppose a ‘yes’ or a ‘no,’” Tim Cullen, Watson’s and Magness’ attorney, said of the wording of the Supreme Court’s order. 

The governor and the board attempted to “settle around” James’ injunction by agreeing to a settlement that refutes the injunction “point by point,” Cullen said.

“It’s not just a settlement, your Honor, it’s an attempt to rewrite history,” he said.