A Sinister Cover-Up: Arkansas' Mega Prison Project in Franklin County

The Cover-Up of the Franklin County Prison Project
&
How It Began…
 

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Jan. 1, 2025 – Fort Smith, ARK – The announcement that the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) had purchased 815 acres of land in Franklin County
for a planned 3,000-bed prison has sparked a wave of controversy,
with local officials and residents demanding transparency
and an investigation into the state’s handling of the deal.

Controversy Surrounds Secretive Land Purchase for Arkansas Prison Project  

A couple of snippets:

The land, purchased for $2.95 million by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority (ADFA) at the request of Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office, was kept secret from the public and local officials until the transaction was completed. The lack of communication and the secrecy surrounding the deal have raised alarms among residents, lawmakers, and advocacy groups, who argue that the process was flawed and possibly unethical.

Joey McCutchen, attorney for the coalition [River Valley Coalition], said the emails suggest an effort to conceal the real purpose behind the land acquisition. “When you’ve got an administration who wants complete secrecy, you start hiding things from the board. It becomes a much more sinister event,” McCutchen argued.

Taxpayers, let’s pay attention! It has been estimated that the prison will cost ONE BILLION dollars… or more! Gov. Sanders may have to call a special session later this year to obtain the spending authority for her project or wait until the 2026 fiscal session, which should begin April 8, 2026, that deals with our state’s budget.

Although this fiscal session focuses on appropriation bills, the legislature can also address other issues if they agree by a two-thirds vote in both chambers, according to Stateside Associates.

Meanwhile, the outraged residents of Franklin County are opposing the prison’s proposed location, knowing that their quality of life will be affected and there will be a huge decline in land values there.

Franklin County resident and River Valley Coalition member, Marilyn Moore, told Secure Arkansas:

After the Governor’s surprise announcement to build a mega prison in Franklin County, a town hall meeting was held in Charleston.  At the conclusion of that meeting, I stood before powerful government officials and made a personal commitment to my community:

I will go as far as I can to make sure our rights are not violated.

Because of grassroots efforts—my own and those of others—the secret actions of state officials have come to light.  It’s deeply disturbing when those in power deliberately work to keep the public in the dark.

The costs to all taxpayers are high. Very high. In many ways.  And it’s not just about money.

There are social costs. Environmental costs. Human costs.  We’re talking about the future of our water, our land, our values, and our way of life.

I’m not an activist. I’m not a politician or a public figure. I’m a very simple person—a wife, a mother, a grandmother—just someone who cares deeply about our community, our water, and the future we’re leaving behind for our children and grandchildren.

She brought a lawsuit yesterday regarding this. (See the bottom of this alert.) Marilyn may be reached at: fcrvcoalition@gmail.com.

Also, there will be many other controversies to come. For instance, the Arkansas water well drillers are saying there’s not enough groundwater at the proposed prison site!  

Downtown Charleston
Photo: Worth Sparkman/Axios

And thankfully, one active state senator keeps speaking out!

From the Eureka Springs Independent dated July 2, 2025: 
King speaks out on mega prison, wind farm, and Buffalo River

State Senator Bryan King of Green Forest represents Senate District 28,
which is composed of Carroll and Madison counties and portions of Boone, Franklin, Johnson, and Newton Counties.

Read more here: Land in our Hands — Bryan King
Article by Matthew Nagy, July 2, 2025

A few excerpts:

The biggest issue on Senator King’s mind right now is what he refers to as the “Mega Prison Scam.”

“I call it a scam, what they are trying to do in Franklin County,” he said. “In our system today, it doesn’t matter if it’s somebody I agree with or votes with me or not. You shouldn’t have a thing with the governor calling up and saying, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re going to get a new three-thousand bed prison, and you are going to like it, it’s good for you.’  

“This prison is estimated to cost $825 million to build.  People need to know that even though this is in Franklin County, it is going to affect every county.”

Senator King is standing up for his constituents and is busy making some noise in our state about the abrupt announcement, the lack of transparency, and expensive plans for a huge prison in Franklin County. He sent a letter to the governor asking for prison plans to change.

We, the people, thank him for speaking to reporters and addressing these concerning issues here in Arkansas.

Here’s another recent article from Carroll County News from July 8, 2025 in which Senator King is mentioned: Winners and losers in the governor’s mega prison scam.

And quoting another Arkansas State Senator, Gary Stubblefield of Branch, “The whole thing was just not done right… I don’t work for the governor. I work for the people that elected me, and I was kept in the dark about this whole thing,” he said. Stubblefield was the co-chair of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Charitable, Penal and Correctional Institutions subcommittee.

Knowing this helps us get a better understanding of the cover-up.

…not to mention the fact that the prison appropriations bill failed FIVE times at the Arkansas legislature in the past legislative session. According to this article by Arkansas Advocate dated April 11, 2025, Arkansas lawmakers consider other funding methods as they abandon sixth prison appropriation vote.

Some excerpts:

After five failed votes, a $750 million prison appropriation bill appears dead for the legislative session, and state lawmakers are considering other methods for securing the needed funding to build the 3,000-bed facility in Franklin County.

The project has been controversial since it was announced in October, due to concerns over transparency, cost, infrastructure and an available workforce. Supporters of building the new state prison, including Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, have said it’s necessary to address overcrowding in county jails…

Green Forest Republican Sen. Bryan King, an outspoken critic of the project who seemed unlikely to be swayed, said Thursday he was pleased by the decision to halt voting on the appropriation bill.

“I am happy for the citizens of Arkansas and hope the Franklin County mega-prison scam is stopped before it gets past the point of no return,” King said in a text message. “Arkansas can do better by hiring more public safety officers to reduce crime and address overcrowding by building facilities in a more financially responsible way.”

Senator King has been a staunch advocate for his constituents for years and has been watching the governor’s maneuvers in her bid for re-election. Read more here from this January 2025 article: Arkansas Senate confirms ex-lawmaker to state prison board over one member’s objection.

Snippets:

Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, said he opposed former Rep. Grant Hodges’ employment at a lobbying firm.

King has regularly objected to the frequent involvement of lobbyists and consultants in state government affairs. In 2023, he sponsored a bill that would have prohibited former lawmakers from employment “as a consultant or director with a firm, business, association, or other private entity with the primary purpose of lobbying an elected official of Arkansas.” The bill died in the Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs.

“You can title yourself whatever, but I say if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck,” King told the Senate on Tuesday.

He added that the Legislature should establish a “clear line” for affiliates of lobbyists not to cross.

And even Franklin County Judge Rickey Bowman and Franklin County Sheriff Johnny Crocker have rejected this mega prison project! Woah!

In summary:

Building a new mega‑prison in Franklin County raises a host of serious, interrelated concerns:

• Governance: Lack of transparency and bypassed public input

• Location: Unsuitable ground and deficient infrastructure

• Safety: Inadequate emergency services and workforce

• Finance: High risk of massive cost overruns

• Alternatives: More effective, less costly options exist

• Community: Adverse impact on rural life and property

• Cultural Sensitivity: Tribal site and heritage issues

Opponents argue a thorough environmental, economic, and social impact study should be completed, not circumvented, before any decision is made. Many believe the state would be better served by investing in local jail expansions, rehabilitation programs, mental health services, and parole reform, both fiscally and in terms of community wellbeing.

Was the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), a federal–state partnership agency, involved in broader discussions around the Franklin County prison project? The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) is a federal–state economic development agency and they have a mandate for funding transformational infrastructure in Delta counties — including Franklin County. There is a potential for infrastructure grants that may be found there because they could be an external player with jurisdiction.

And, so far, there is no indication that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been formally involved or invited to participate because this is a state run prison and not a federal prison.

Suspicious activity early-on! The scandalous hold-out and cover-up deception began by using early concealment and code names for the project!:

• Early-stage concealment: State employees at the Department of Transformation & Shared Services (TSS), now Shared Administrative Services (SAS), and the Development Finance Authority (ADFA) deliberately bypassed early public disclosure. Emails show a suppression of Franklin County as a potential site in PowerPoints until just before purchase
   

• Within weeks of discovering the land was listed (July), staff began using code names like “Onion Creek” or “Mill Creek Mountain” to discuss the site behind closed doors

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) officials involved in site selection, notably Jonathan Duran and Shelby Johnson, sent private emails mocking Franklin County residents. One message included a South Park clip portraying locals as ignorant, a clear sign of contempt!

See this Arkansas Times article from Dec. 2024: Emails show officials hid purchase of land in Franklin County for prison, mocked residents by sharing South Park video clips (UPDATED)

Top (L to R): Mark Conine, Anne Laidlaw, Shelby Johnson.
Bottom (L to R): Jake Bleed, Lindsay Wallace, Jonathan Duran
Credit: Ark. Development Finance Authority, Ark. Dept. of Transformation & Shared Services, Ark. Dept. of Correction

*Duran was removed from the project after all the backlash, and Arkansas Department of Transformation and Shared Services (TSS) labeled his behavior “unprofessional”. (TSS/now SAS was formed in 2019 under Act 910 and it supposedly handles areas such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), building authority, procurement, technology, and personnel management.) Note: In 2025, TSS was changed to the Department of Shared Administrative Services (SAS).

• ADFA President Mark Conine and General Counsel Jake Bleed deliberately downplayed the purchase’s true intent. Jake Bleed was instructed to refer to it as “a land purchase in Franklin County … for our own corporate purposes” to avoid triggering scrutiny that a prison project would bring.
   

• Emails show Anne Laidlaw (Division of Building Authority) and others discussing postponing official disclosure to the ADFA board to keep details confidential until after purchase.
   

• Governor Sanders’s office coordinated with state agencies. Although she publicly framed the purchase as progressive and necessary, internal emails reveal she and her staff were briefed on secrecy strategies and even discussed making a low-key, “off-schedule” drive-by of the site.
   

• Joe Profiri, hired by Gov. Sanders, as a senior adviser after being ousted as Corrections Secretary, defended the site’s workforce viability at public meetings, contradicting internal reports stating workforce concerns.
   

• When FOIA requests for internal communications were made, legal counsel for Governor Sanders denied them, reported by 5newsonline in Nov. 2024, claiming executive correspondence is exempt from public disclosure.
   

• Over 60,000 records later obtained by local advocacy groups illustrate a calculated effort by state officials to “control the narrative” and shield the project until announcements. A unbelievable choice of actions!

Note: If you recall, since day one of taking office, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has engaged in secrecy and is doing battle to rid Arkansans of our strong Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA). So, she is battling transparency and does NOT want things out in the open! She likes things done behind closed doors.

Specifically, she has tried to: Limit the “deliberative process” records. She also proposed exemptions that would shield records “revealing the deliberative process of state agencies, boards, or commissions,” including recommendations, memos, and advisory opinions. Opponents argue that this would reduce government transparency by preventing the public from understanding how decisions are made. Thank goodness, many of her proposed changes were met with strong bipartisan opposition and did not become law. Here’s what she did get signed into law in 2023.

So, this looks like how Sarah’s minions were used to help cover-up the prison project:

*Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

*Shared Administration Services (SAS)/ formerly TSS handles public records requests (FOIAs).

Centralization! Looking at this new dubious agency, Transformation and Shared Services (TSS)— now renamed the Department of Shared Administrative Services, or (SAS): It is the executive-level administrative hub in Arkansas state government. Under Gov. Sanders, TSS/SAS, particularly its GIS and Building Authority teams played a central role in:

• evaluating and selecting the Franklin County site,

• managing internal secrecy, and

• facilitating the land purchase while deliberately minimizing early public disclosure. We know a Pennsylvania realtor or LLC quietly facilitated the land transfer, keeping the purchase anonymous and off local radar. It’s unclear whether the intermediary was tied to ADFA, state advisers, or a private developer. This questionable intermediary then flipped the land to the state just before the public announcement of the prison site. The original owners were Aaron and Haley Geissinger, based in Franklin County, before the state purchased it via ADFA.  

• Secretary Leslie Fisken was appointed by Gov. Sanders in September 2023 and heads the entire department.

*TSS is a full-fledged state executive cabinet agency, now known as SAS. This new agency will enable power abuse, surveillance, and suppression. Moreover, it reduces transparency and our voices:

• It centralizes administrative support — procurement, construction, mapping, IT, HR, and benefits for all state agencies.

• It operates both horizontally (supplying services to multiple departments) and vertically (answering to the Governor’s Office).

• In this Franklin County prison matter, TSS/SAS supervised mapping/site prep, managed land acquisition logistics, and helped orchestrate the stealth process BEFORE the public announcement.

Readers, centralization of power = centralizing control and can seriously undermine a constitutional government by disrupting its carefully designed system of checks and balances, reducing accountability, and threatening our individual freedoms.

While Arkansas’ Geographic Information Systems (GIS) itself is not AI, our state IS integrating AI with GIS, from forestry and agriculture to statewide planning. Yes, there will be AI farm planning systems used here. These “so-called” cutting-edge efforts showcase how GeoAI is being used in our environmental management, support for local industries, and will be used to foster “sustainable practices” here in our state. Most of us know these practices/”Best Practices” as the United Nations (UN) Agenda 2030.

Concerning the cover-up, rather than an oversight, this unchecked authority was a deliberate, coordinated effort involving top state officials and especially the new Shared Administrative Services (SAS) to delay and downplay disclosure of the mega prison project. They used code names, misleading language, mockery, and legal shields, like FOIA exemptions to prevent transparency until the land deal was sealed! That’s scary, and it’s wrong…

From what we understand… the Department Of Correction’s (DOC) game plan for the prison project is: to keep progress alive using current funds and finalize design plans by August 2025, and they will begin early site prep in September, all designed to be in place whenever future funding becomes available. So, here were the steps taken: following site approval in Nov. 2024, the Board has moved forward with contracts for design, contractors, and infrastructure prep (e.g., well drilling), all contingent on site status being locked in. The DOC functions under the Board of Corrections and is led by a governor-appointed secretary, Lindsay Wallace.

The Franklin County prison project is still facing significant opposition!

In closing, regarding the lack of transparency and the sinister cover-up, a lawsuit has been filed:

Press Release

479-783-0036

On July 10th, Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen filed a lawsuit in Sebastian County Circuit Court on behalf of Marilyn Moore against the City of Fort Smith and Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman for violations of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The complaint stems from the City’s failure to timely produce public records related to the proposed construction of a new prison in Franklin County.

On October 31, 2024, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the State’s surprise purchase of a $2.95 million property in Franklin County for a planned 3,000-bed prison. Local residents were not informed or consulted about the project in advance.

The City, through Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman, initially denied that any records existed. Only after Marilyn Moore followed up demanding their release did the City provide responsive documents, and then attempted to make it appear as though her request had not been received until days later, after the deadline set under FOIA had already passed.

This lawsuit comes just weeks after Sebastian County Circuit Judge Dianna Hewitt Ladd found that the City and Mr. Dingman violated FOIA in a separate case involving the hiring of Rebecca Cowen as Internal Auditor. In that case, the Court ruled that the City withheld clearly responsive records and that Jeff Dingman destroyed a background check that had been provided to him. The Court called the City’s lack of transparency in that case as troubling.

McCutchen stated, “This is no longer an isolated mistake by Mr. Dingman. The City of Fort Smith has shown a repeated disregard for transparency and a pattern of violating the public’s right to know. Citizens should not have to file lawsuits to get answers from their government both at the local and state level.”

McCutchen added, “Fort Smith residents have had repeated concerns regarding high water rates and City officials have announced millions of dollars of future costs for the transmission of water. Citizens of Fort Smith and the surrounding areas have a right to know how this project will impact them in the future.”

See attached Complaint.

Joey McCutchen

Trial Lawyer

“Protect the 7th Amendment; it’s the one that protects all the rest.”

McCutchen Napurano – The Law Firm
P.O. Box 1971, 1622 North B Street
Fort Smith, AR 72901

Office: (479) 783-0036    Fax: (479) 783-5168

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